Son of the Void Episode I: A Marvelous Beginning
by Death Legion
Summary: Slade was abandoned by his parents in the Void only for it to abandon him in New York a few thousand years later. Luckily, Slade met a strange magician under circumstances only Slade could consider normal. How would the Marvel Universe change now that he's being raised by Dr. Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme? OC/harem.
1. Prologue: Where the Void Wills

**Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Marvel Comics**

**A/N: Hey, guys and welcome to my new Fanfic. This is the first of my planned trilogy, this is inspired Rise of the Arcane by Angeldoctor who has allowed me to adopt it and use it as a base. The pairing for this will be OC/Harem of Marvel girls, so basally a nerd's wet dream. The girls can and might change depending on how thing are going, but the list of girls is down the bottom. So without further a due I give you Son of the Void Episode I: A Marvelous Beginning. Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Prologue: Where the Void Wills<strong>

To start this story we have to go back, all the way back to before time itself. There was the Void a dimension between space and time, pure nothingness is what some describe it as and they are right, for there is no time or space nor any matter of any kind. Others would call this place hell, for even the worst of Hell's demons fear being trapped in the Void. But there are ones of call it home; they are called the Void-Walkers. These mysterious creatures are the only ones that can transgress the Void, some say they have seen the beginning of time and space; this is why they are not allowed any contact with mortals. The leader of these illusive beings, the Archon wish to use their power to being order to the growing chaotic universe and recreate it to be truly perfect under his guidance and rule. However, he discovered that there was a threat to his plans for one of his own might carry in it the one thing that could stop him the entity known as Ragnarok. While the Archon was a bring of order, Ragnarok was pure chaos. Fearing for his plan, the Archon massacred his own kind searching for the mad entity leaving nothing, not even dust. But one had survived and found Ragnarok, but he was too weak to host the being. So calling his bond mates, the archangel Uriel, a demon named Shara, the cosmic entity Death and a human Wicca, they together made a ritual using blood, sex and energy. Using the Wicca's womb, they conceived a son together and place the twisted being inside of the child. But due to the unfortunate circumstances, none of the participants were able to keep him. So they put him in the one safe place they could think of the Void itself.

So they put him in the one safe place they could think of the Void itself. There he was placed and there he remained for 80000 years, though because of time being funny inside it, the child only aged one year every ten thousand years, there he waited, for what he didn't know only thing the boy had of his parents was his name which is Slade Inanis. One day after losing hope of getting out, Slade felt a tug on his chest and was pulled from the Void and fell unconscious as soon as he landed.

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><p>Slade looked around in panic as he walked the streets of New York. He had awoken that morning in a hotel room to find the Void had left him. If it was on purpose or an accident, Slade didn't know but he wagered on the former. While he resented his father for leaving him in the Void and wanted more to be free of it, he was smart enough to know he wouldn't survive long. He couldn't work, had no skills beyond his magic and worse still was the fact that he was in unfamiliar territory.<p>

Slade was currently walking down Main Street with his small bag of clothes trying to get his bearings. He hoped that if he explained his situation they would help him or at the very least give somewhere to stay for a few nights. He had heard horror stories about orphanages and had no wish to end up in one. The Void was at the very least familiar and he knew how to live with it. Orphanages were outside of his experience and one he had no wish to have.

Slade was starting to panic as the thought of going to an orphanage started to seem more and more likely when the jewelry store across the street exploded. He threw himself on the floor as people began screaming as they tried to escape the immediate area, rather than run in an unfamiliar place and get even more lost, ducked into the toy store across from the destroyed store and cautiously looking out the window to see what was happening.

Slade watched as a strange man dressed in Arabian clothing flying on what looked like a big carpet hurled bolts of red energy bolts down on the people running away while giant... things made of rock attacked any unlucky person close enough to hit. Slade was horrified as he saw a girl about 15 get hit by one of those bolts and go down with a scream of pain. No one stopped to help her and Slade was about to go and help when a man that looked like her older brother came back and picked her up before and running away with her on his back. The Arabian man turned his back from tormenting the people before he made a hand gesture and hundreds of necklaces and jewels flew out of the destroyed store and into a bag at his side.

"Fear me, mortals!" yelled the obviously insane man as soon as he finished gathering the jewels.

"For I am the Arabian Mystic. The most powerful sorcerer in the entire world!"

Slade's breath caught as he said he was a sorcerer. Sorcerer, was the same thing as Wiccan, wasn't it? Did that mean he was like his parents? Like him?

Due to his eidetic memory, Slade remembered many of the things his parents had done with their words when he was living with them. While he knew that one supposedly needed a jumble to use magic, Slade had tried, and succeeded, to replicate the effects with his hands while he lived within the Void. While being bored out of his mind, he had learned how to makes things float and when pressed could fire bolts of energy out of his hands that he suspected would sting a person if they hit. However, he could never seem to replicate the bigger things such as making things explode or turning them into something else. He guessed one needed practice to do stuff like that. The most he could manage was turn a splinter into a needle and that only after a lot of concentration. For a 8 year old untrained, that was quite a feat.

Back in the present, the Arabian man was just finishing gathering the jewels when he was hit by a strong bolt of white energy on his back. He cried out in pain and turned to his attacker.

The newcomer was a man dressed in black pants and boots, a blue tunic, a yellow sash and a red cape with gold trim. The man was Caucasian with a dark hair and mustache that went down to create a thin beard on his chin. He had silver streaks on either side of his head that made him look dignified. He was hovering a few feet above the thief and looking down at him with a disdainful look. The self-named Arabian Mystic glared at the newcomer.

"Who are you who dare to challenge me?"

However, Slade had already recognized the man. After all, the Void was a wealth of untapped knowledge. Slade had absorbed the knowledge several times when he was bored. Normal people would have to dig very deep through long forgotten tombs and live even longer to match even one-thousandth of the Void knowledge but then again, he was not normal by any standards.

"I am Dr. Strange and I am here to stop you," said Dr. Strange simply.

"I have bee tracking you for a while and this time, you will not escape justice." With that, he attacked.

The fight was mostly one-sided. While the Mystic had his golems and was pretty strong himself, Dr. Strange seemed to be on an entirely different level and tore through the golems and the Mystic's defenses with ease. Dr. Strange was just about to bind the Mystic when Slade saw it.

Floating a few feet behind Dr. Strange was a small group of rocks that were slowly combining into a new shape. It took a moment for Slade to realize what shape it was taking.

It was taking the shape of a dagger.

Thinking that the man was in danger, Slade reacted instinctively as ran out of the store. "NO!" From Slade's hand flew a dark purple almost black bolt of magic stronger than any he had sent before. It quickly crossed the distance and destroyed the stone dagger just before it could impale Dr. Strange from behind.

Dr. Strange had turned at Slade's yell only for his eyes to widen when he realized what Slade had done. While his constant defenses would have protected him, it could have been enough to distract him and let the Mystic escape. Still, it was an incredibly brave, not to mention foolish, thing the boy did. Dr. Strange quickly bound the Mystic and banished the pieces of the golems before turning back to the boy.

Dr. Strange was surprised when he saw the age of the boy. He couldn't be more than 7, yet he had enough inherent magical power to stop a stone dagger. Quite incredible considering his obvious lack of training.

That brought Stephen up short. That mystic bolt had been quite strong to destroy the stone dagger and children his age shouldn't be able to use true magic to that level. However, here was a boy capable of doing just that standing in front of him. It intrigued him greatly and he recalled something his master had once said to him.

_'One day, you shall meet a boy with more power than sense and in need of a mentor to guide him. When you do, you will know you have found your apprentice.'_

With that in mind, Strange secured the Mystic once more and opened a portal before sending most of the remains of the golems and the Mystic. Dr. Strange turned to the boy to see that he had passed out unconscious due to the strain of using that much power and Strange frowned in concern. There was a reason children aren't taught magic much less true magic at such a young age. The magical forces flowing through such a small frame are usually too much for the child and either kills them or drives them insane.

Stephen floated over and gently picked up the boy before creating another portal, this one to his home, and walking through it with the boy in tow.

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><p><strong>Sanctum Sanctorum<strong>

Slade groaned and slowly opened his eyes. He felt as if he had carried a car's weight with his bare hands for over an hour before being crushed by it. In layman's terms, he felt like shit.

Slade reached for his glasses and stiffened when someone put them in his hands.

His first thought was that it was back in the Void but quickly dismissed it when he remembered that there were no people in a world of nothing. Plus, it would have never given his glasses to him. Still, he was suspicious. He had heard a lot of stories of people who gathered children for stuff like selling drugs or even raising them as prostitutes. He hoped the person wasn't one of those.

The last thing he remembered was saving Dr. Strange and hoped the man had taken him to his house. Deciding that only by confronting it would he find out the truth, Slade put on his glasses and turned to the presence he sensed.

The man before him was obviously Oriental in origin wearing oriental clothing and holding himself with grace. He had brown eyes and looked to be around 5'8". Slade didn't know his hair color for the simple fact that the man was bald. His face was impassive but held a glint of kindness that told Slade the man was definitely not a child trafficker. The man smiled slightly at Slade's curious face before speaking.

"Good morning, young one. My name is Wong and I am the assistant to Dr. Strange. He brought you here after you bravely saved him during his confrontation with that Mystic man. How are you feeling?"

Slade was relieved he was saved by Dr. Strange but still wary. After all, his own relatives treated him like shit so he didn't expect much out of strangers. Slade grimaced as he sat up and answered Wong's question.

"Like I exercised too much and every muscle is strained."

Wong smiled slightly and nodded knowingly.

"Yes. That would be because you used too much magic. There is a reason children your age are not taught magic after all. The power is too much for your underdeveloped bodies and could kill you if you use too much." Seeing Slade's frightened look, Wong raised a hand to reassure him.

"You are fine, young one. There are no lasting effects. Now, what is your name?"

Slade looked momentarily conflicted. While he knew his name, he had refused being called Inanis ever since they had abandoned him. It was a childish attempt to get back at them for abandoning him. "Slade, Just Slade."

Wong raised an eyebrow at the lack of surname but just nodded. He already knew his surname since his master had discreetly scanned the boy's mind when he was unconscious. Not deeply but enough to get his name and sense he had no ulterior motives for saving him.

"Very well then Slade. When you are ready, Master Strange awaits you in the dining room down the hall for breakfast."

Slade nodded his understanding and Wong left the room. He was slightly relieved at being alone since he no longer had to be on guard and Slade slowly stretched to get the soreness out of his muscles, wincing the entire time. However, his time in the Void had taught him to ignore the pain and continue to function. Slade tried to think of it in a positive light rather than think of the memories associated with how he got such a high pain tolerance.

Slade slowly left the bed and looked at the clothes that had been laid out for him. It was a simple ensemble of black pants and a blue shirt with fresh socks and new shoes in his size. While suspicious at the seeming hospitality, he had no choice but to put them on. He knew his other clothes weren't really suitable and he didn't wish to offend Dr. Strange by refusing to wear what he offered. If nothing else, insulting such an obviously powerful man was tantamount to suicide.

Slade grabbed them and brought them to the bathroom where he took a long, relaxing shower to get the dirt off him and then dressed in them. He didn't know how long his good fortune would last before he was taken back to the Void so he was going to milk it for all it was worth.

Slade sighed and put on his glasses before walking out of the room. He walked straight down the hall as asked before he reached the door that was obviously the dining room. Slade cautiously knocked and a man's voice responded telling him to come in.

Slade entered and saw Dr. Strange sitting at the head of the table looking at Slade with a smile. There was a large serving of all kinds of breakfast foods on the table before him and Slade's mouth watered. He gestured for Slade to sit beside him and Slade quickly complied. From up close, Slade could see that he looked around 40 years old, yet there was an ageless quality to him that hinted to more than meets the eye. He had grey eyes that looked similar to smoke or mist yet had a piercing quality to them that showed he was not someone to cross.

Strange smiled at him before speaking.

"I didn't know what you would like so I told Wong to prepare a little bit of everything. Eat and we'll talk afterwards.

After a small internal debate, Slade quickly began to pile his plate with food. He decided that if Dr. Strange was going to hurt him, he would have done so already.

Being half-Void he could survive without eating and Slade was beyond happy to do so now. Strange raised an eyebrow at his actions and a worm of unease entered his mind. The boy was acting as if he was starved. This could explain the thin body for his age as well as the slightly smaller than normal stature. He thought it was just genetic but the fact he had only the clothes on his back when he found him plus that his parents where nowhere nearby hinted to something else. Perhaps he lived on the street but no. While suspicious, he didn't have the hard eyes that children on the street usually had. Something he was sad to say he saw very often.

After both ate their fill, Slade felt much better and stared up at the man with curious yet cautious eyes. "Why are you being so nice to me?

The unease in Strange's mind grew but he outwardly smiled.

"Do I need a reason to help someone in need?"

Slade frowned.

"No one has ever cared for me before."

At that, Stephen's fears were confirmed. It seemed as if Slade had come either from the streets or from an abusive home. His suspicions were on the latter since he had clothes when they met. Sure they looked far too large for him but they were in better condition than most people on the street have.

Stephen frowned and gently spoke.

"Don't you have relatives to take care of you?"

Slade frowned at his words but decided that if he told the truth, Dr. Strange might be more inclined to help him. Plus, Slade sensed that Dr. Strange would know if he lied.

"Yes but the Void is a dimension of nothingness, so there was no one to take care of me. Also with being half Void-Walker and my mother's reputation, that leaves a long list of enemies, opportunists and others that would either try to take revenge on them through me or use me for dark purposes"

A crash of glass was heard and Slade jumped slightly and turned to see that the glass in Strange's hand had broken. Strange's face was thunderous and Slade couldn't help but be slightly frightened. Dr. Strange did not look like someone to cross.

The door behind Strange opened and Wong entered, looking around for threats. However, he then noticed the broken glass in his master's hands as well as the anger in his eyes and understood something must have happened to anger him. Wong gently took the glass from his master's hands which seemed to bring him back from wherever his mind went.

"I'm sorry. Must have held it too hard," muttered Dr. Strange quietly.

Wong just gave him a look that showed he didn't believe him and picked up every shard before throwing it away and standing beside him again.

Stephen turned back to Slade with an unreadable look before speaking.

"Slade... do you know about magic?"

Slade nodded.

"Yeah. My father is a Void-Walker and my mother was a Wicca. They... left me with the Void almost 80000 years ago because I was the product of they're forbidden union."

Stephen frowned heavily and Wong stiffened slightly as he realized what must have happened while he lived within it. Wong was usually a pacifist and hated violence but the thought of grown adults leaving a child all alone simply because of who his parents were was one of the few things that could get him angry. It reminded him too much of the isolation he felt due to the racism he faced here in the U.S.

Stephen mulled things over. While he could report this to the authorities, he knew that at best this only meant Slade would go to an orphanage. At worst, that old meddler Archon would get involved due to it being a Void child and make it disappears. Dr. Strange had a special dislike for the man. Too many things that should have been brought to justice had been swept under the rug thanks to that man's influence. He wouldn't allow this young boy to suffer due to that man's need to control everything.

Decision made, Strange turned to Slade with a determined look.

"Well, how would you like to live here with me?"

Slade's eyes widened and he noticed that even Wong seemed surprised. It sounded too good to be true and this made him suspicious. Why would such a powerful and well-off man want to take him in?

"Why would you want to take me in? You don't even know me."

Stephen smiled sadly.

"I know that you're a good person by the way you risked yourself to try to save me from perceived danger. I know that you are naturally suspicious thanks to what has happened to you but I promise you that as long as you never give me a reason to, I will never hurt you. I will even teach you to harness your magic if you wish."

Slade thought it over. It was a good opportunity and Slade didn't delude himself into thinking that he would get another like it. He had someone willing to teach him and he would be a fool to pass it up. Plus, if he ended up being like the Void, he would at least be taught magic in return.

Slade turned to Dr. Strange curiously.

"Is my magic really that strong? I always thought I was weak since I could never do that much stuff despite much practice."

Stephen was slightly surprise at the admission to practicing his magic but shook his head at his words.

"Nonsense, you have incredible potential for magic and even if you didn't, I would never let you go back to your relatives knowing what I know now. If you truly wish this, I will take you as my apprentice. Be warned, doing so will have consequences and your old life and name will be gone forever."

Slade thought long and hard about his offer. On one hand, he would lose the only thing that was his. His identity. On the other, his name had never truly helped him and losing it wouldn't be that much of a chore. In fact, he was more than willing to get rid of the Void name. If his parents tossed him aside then he would toss them aside. In return, he would gain something infinitely more precious to him. A home and a family.

Slade looked up at Dr. Strange with a fire of determination in his eyes.

"I'll do it."

Dr. Strange stood up before hesitating for a moment.

"I'm sorry but I need to know for sure. What is your last name if you know it?"

Slade looked reluctant but sighed in acceptance.

"Inanis. My full name is Slade Inanis."

Stephen showed no sign of recognition and simply nodded solemnly before leading Slade to a room attached to the dining room. The room looked a bit like a study and had a large empty space in the middle of it. Wong had followed them into the room and stood along a far wall, knowing what was coming.

Dr. Strange stood in the middle of the room and suddenly, white flames erupted around him on the floor. Slade yelped back at the sight but strangely, wasn't burned by them or even felt the heat of the flames. Now that the flames had gone down a little, Slade realized that they formed a pattern along the floor.

From a bird's eyes view, the white flames made a small circle beneath Dr. Strange's feet that was filled in with the white flames. Slade noticed that the flames didn't burn or even damage Dr. Strange's clothing and realized the flames must be magical in nature. The small white circle Dr. Strange was standing in had six equidistant lines coming out of it that went out three feet before combining to create a larger circle with two layers of flames.

Slade realized that this created a sort of pie diagram that had a filled in white circle in the exact center and was divided in six exactly equal parts. Each 'pie slice' or division had a smaller circle within them except these circles were different. For one thing, they weren't white like the circle Dr. Strange was standing in. For another, they invoked strange feelings in Slade whenever he looked at them. When Slade looked at one of the circles directly in front of Dr. Strange, the flames were black with white dots with in them reminding Slade of the night sky as well as making shapes that reminded Slade of clocks and hourglasses. The one to its right had a low white fire on the floor that was barely simmering but had five different colored orbs of fire orbiting each other in a circle above it; in order, one was yellow, one was light blue, one was red, one was a dark blue color, and the last that was also beside the yellow one was a green color that reminded Slade of trees.

Slade's eyes were drawn to the two circles behind Dr. Strange. One looked like a half moon from above with one half made up of white flames that reached up almost as high as Dr. Strange himself while the other half was made up of black flames that were barely simmering. The other circle that drew Slade's eye was made up of green flames that made strange shapes and symbols with it. For a second, Slade swore he saw the shape of his Void mark within the flames.

Slade was drawn out of his inspection of the flames by Dr. Strange's voice.

"This is what is known as the Master's circle. Each circle represents one of the domains of magic that is mostly common among all magic-users. First is the domain of Space-Time." Dr. Strange pointed at the black flames that had white dots within them and made hourglass shapes, "Second are the elements." He now pointed at the circles with the five orbs orbiting above it. "Third is the Mind." He pointed at a circle Slade hadn't studied that to the left of the Space-Time circle and was an orange color but made no shapes or designs within it. "Be warned, the domain of the Mind is dangerous ground to tread due to the dangers it can bring. Fourth is Transmutation, which involves everything that changes one thing into another." Dr. Strange now pointed to another circle that was to the right of the Elements circle and there were figures within the red flames that changed from one figure to another and then to another and then back again. "Second to last, is the domain of Runes which as you may imagine involves using runes to invoke magical effects." He pointed to the green flame circle that Slade thought he saw his scar within. "The last but certainly not least is the domain of Light/Dark which involves both Light magic and Dark magic."

Slade looked eagerly at all the circles that symbolized the domains of magic with an eager look in his eyes. Suddenly a line of white flames left the larger circle and formed a smaller circle that was similar to Dr. Strange's with all the domains. The difference was that all the flames were white and barely simmering instead of crackling merrily like Dr. Strange's.

"That is the Apprentice's circle. It symbolizes your progress as well as the connection of Master and Apprentice between us. Once you step into the circle, the magical contract between us is formed and it can never break until I release you from your apprenticeship. Decide now because once you step into the circle, there is no going back."

Slade hesitated for only a second before stepping forward over the low simmering white flames and standing in the center circle just like Dr. Strange. The flames on both circles flared for a second and Slade felt something form that connected him to Dr. Strange. Once it fully formed, the flames went down and stayed simmering for a while before both circle of flames dispersed.

Dr. Strange nodded and spoke. "And now for the second part. This would truly make you my son in both blood and magic. Are you willing to do this?"

Slade just nodded and Dr. Strange once more made the flames rise up. Strange started to chant and the flames suddenly jumped to Slade and started to make runes on his skin. Slade was surprised to feel no pain but he did feel something start to change within him. Suddenly, with a loud crescendo in the chant from Strange, the flames dispersed, leaving Slade feeling as if something fundamentally changed.

Stephen walked toward Slade and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You are now my apprentice. Slade Inanis is gone. From today on, you will be known as my son and apprentice, Slade Strange."

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><p><strong>AN: And cut. There is the prologue done and dusted. Please review or favorite or else I WILL SEND YOU TO THE VOID MAHAHAHAHAHAHA! (Whack) Ouch that hurts. Anyway here is the list of leading ladies in Slade life. In no particular order:**

**Jean Grey/Phoenix**

**Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch**

**Emma Frost/White Queen  
>Elizabeth BraddockPsylocke**

**Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk**

**Laura Kinney/X-23**

**Selene/Black Queen**

**Carol Danvers/Ms. Marvel**

**If you have any problems or suggestions, please don't hesitate to let me know. This is Death Legion signing off.**


	2. Chapter 1: Go to a Shrink, Get a Friend

**Chapter 1: Go to a Shrink, Get a Friend**

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><p>Slade sighed as he walked down the street to Dr. Philips office. Dr. Philips was an old friend of his father and he had sent Slade to go pick up something for him. It was just an amulet that Dr. Philips had said had been in the family for a while and wanted Dr. Strange to look over to see if it had any mystical properties since everyone who had ever worn it had died soon after. It was a reasonable assumption and Slade didn't fault him for his fear.<p>

The last two years with his new adoptive father had been the greatest he'd ever known. His father treated him like a young adult rather than a child and never did something regarding him without his permission. He had legally adopted him a few months after he'd found Slade and now he was legally as well as magically Slade Strange. He'd done it after Slade allowed him to look through his mind to see his past and Dr. Strange had said it would be better so his past acquaintances wouldn't discover him before he was ready. There weren't a lot of changes physically since Strange also had black hair. The only noticeable difference was that Slade had grown a little bit taller and his hair was now easier to brush. It still stuck up but he could now style it so it didn't look like he just got out of bed. His eyes hadn't changed at all and his father guessed it was such a part of him that magic left as is.

His adoptive father also made it very clear that someday he would have to return to the Void. According to him, he had found out that the entity Ragnarok had not crossed over that night over millennia ago. That meant he was probably still alive somewhere in the Void and he would no doubt the revenge on those who defeated him. Luckily, he was trapped in the deepest part of the Void and it would take him decades, if not centuries to claw his way out. This allowed Slade the breathing room to study under his adoptive father in relative peace until he was ready.

For now, his father didn't think he was ready to learn most of the magic he knew so they filled his days with magical theory as well as knowledge that most middle school kids knew in the 8th grade. Slade was quite smart on his own and his eidetic memory only helped in that regard. Wong also started teaching him basic self-defense so that he could fight without magic if needed. The only magic he was being taught was telepathy.

This was done for several reasons. One was so that he could learn to defend his mind from unwanted intrusions. Someone might use telepathy against him and he wanted to be ready to defend himself from mental attack. Another reason was so that Slade could use telepathy to avoid fights when he went outside.

They had quickly discovered that Slade had the uncanny habit of finding himself in the worst situations through no fault of his own. To avoid that, they taught him how to use magical telepathy to make someone forget his presence for a few seconds while he escaped the situation. This had helped Slade avoid muggers and people who kidnapped children whenever he walked through the streets. He was just lucky that Dr. Strange had found him before any of those people had when the Void abandoned him.

Slade sighed as he rang the doorbell to Dr. Philips office. Dr. Philips lived in a normal two story building that had his office/therapy room and patient reception room in the first floor while his personal lodgings was in the second. He wasn't one of the most sought after psychiatrists but he was highly respected for his various theories on the human mind. During his father's time as a neurosurgeon they had exchanged ideas on the biological and emotional aspects of the brain. Despite his father having been retired for almost a decade they still kept in contact.

The speaker turned on and Dr. Philips voice came through.

"Who is it?"

Slade smiled at the familiar brusque tone. "It's Slade, Dr. Philips. Dad sent me to pick up that amulet you asked him to study."

Dr. Philips voice came through, this time in a sheepish tone. "That was today? Dear me, I'm getting old if I forget stuff like that. Well, come in and I'll see you in a minute. I'm with a quite perplexing patient right now."

Slade cocked an eyebrow at that. Perplexing for someone like Dr. Philips is the same as saying 'I have no idea what's wrong with her and I'm getting frustrated'. Slade just hoped he would figure it out soon. Adults tend to get cranky when they didn't understand something.

Slade walked in once the buzzer sounded, signaling the door was unlocked. Slade stepped into the air-conditioned building and walked into the patient reception room. It was empty of anyone at the moment so Slade sat in a comfortable chair that had both the exit and the door leading to the office/therapy room in his sights. It was something Wong had taught him to do every time he entered a room in case of traps.

The room was a natural cream color with a desk next to the door leading to the therapy room and a couple of chairs and a sofa arranged in a semi-circle in front of the desk. It gave off a peaceful aura that relaxed people and Slade had to admit it was well done.

Slade was waiting for about a minute when he felt a sort of pressure on his mind shields. Slade was instantly on his feet and looking around as he tried to locate the source. His shields were holding up quite well despite the power Slade could sense from the source. It was almost as if the source was doing it completely unconsciously and had no control over it.

The door leading to the therapy room opened and out walked out a girl. She had long red hair and green eyes that looked maybe the same year as him. For second Slade unconsciously superimposed the image of his mother over the girl due to their similarities. However, unlike his mother this girl's eyes seemed dull and tired, like she hadn't gotten much sleep lately. Despite being only 10, Slade also had to admit that this girl was much pretty and would only continue as she got older.

Another thing that differentiated them was that this girl was the source of the mental attack on Slade's mind. Not a light attack (which his father described as feeling like someone was trying to burrow into your mind like worm) but a true telepath attack like his father. Slade was so shocked that his shields almost fell but he regained himself quickly. The girl was looking at him in shock and a little bit of hope. She gulped and spoke in a quiet tone.

"I-I... I couldn't sense you. Usually I can sense everyone when they're close but... I can't read you."

Slade cocked an eyebrow at that. It seemed as if this girl had no idea what she was doing. It wasn't completely unheard of. Some especially strong magicals had an inclination to one aspect of magic more than others. If they were powerful enough, they would manifest it even when they were young in an unconscious way. Slade due to his Void Walker was inclined toward multiple aspects of the mystical arts. His father was inclined to the ritual and banishment aspects and it seemed this girl was inclined for the more mental aspects.

She needed to meet his father. Slade could only imagine the pain she was going through being forced to read everyone's mind without the ability to stop it. Despite having just met her, Slade felt inclined to help her.

Suddenly, Dr. Philips exited behind the red-haired girl, breaking the spell between them.

"Hello, Slade. I see you've met my newest patient, Jean Grey. She's quite an enigma. Why, at times I swore she was reading my mind!" Dr. Philips chuckled at his own joke.

He didn't notice that the two children didn't laugh and that Slade was giving Jean a knowing look. He turned to Dr. Philips with a plan in place. "Actually, we've met before. I've seen her around her and we're good friends already, right Jean?" He gave her a meaningful look that he hoped she understood. Luckily, it seemed as if she did because she nodded her head as well.

"Yes, Slade and I have met around here before. We've played in the park a few times as well."

Slade almost rolled his eyes at her attempts at subterfuge. It was obvious she had never lied to someone before because the first thing you do is never give someone any leads to check up on. If he bothered to check he would quickly find out that Slade never left his father's house except to conduct errands.

Fortunately, Jean had been unconsciously leaking a hypnotic suggestion into her words that caused Dr. Philips to believe it without question. Dr. Philips smiled indulgently.

"That's wonderful! Perhaps you can tell me about it in our next session."

He then turned to Slade.

"Now wait here you two. I'm going up to the second floor to get that amulet for your father, Slade. I'll be right back."

After Dr. Philips left, Slade turned back to Jean only to find her a few feet in front of him and staring at him intensely. Jean's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Why can't I read you? That's never happened to me before. My parents think it's just trauma from when my friend died but I know better."

Slade cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Maybe you can tell me how it first happened and I'll tell you why you can't read me."

Jean frowned at what he said and Slade felt the pressure on his shield increased for a moment before it subsided when Jean sighed.

"Well, it was about a year ago. I was playing with my friend Anne when the ball we were playing with flew into the street by mistake. She ran to get it but forgot to look both ways and was hit by a car."

Here, Jean's voice started to break and Slade could sense her pain through his own telepathy.

"I-I went to her and as she was dying I was suddenly in Anne's head. I felt as she died and since then I could hear everyone's thoughts."

Slade frowned but recognized the reason why and sighed.

"It's similar to me then."

At Jean's questioning look, he continued.

"My original guardian was a less than kind teacher and during one of its sessions I unlocked my magical ability as well."

Jean looked dubious.

"But... magic isn't real... right?"

Slade smirked before checking to see if Dr. Philips was close using his telepathy. Once sure that the coast was clear, Slade winked at Jean before grabbing a pencil on the desk nearby.

"Now, watch closely Jean because this is kind of hard for me since I'm still learning."

Jean leaned in as Slade placed the pencil in one hand while he put the other hovering over it. Slade concentrated on the newest spell he had read about before he slowly let his magic loose. Jean's hair stood on end as she felt it and her mouth dropped as she saw the pencil slowly change into a hairpin.

Slade started breathing heavily once he was done and smiled proudly at the speechless Jean. It didn't take much power but it took a lot of concentration not to blow it up instead of simply changing it. Jean quickly regained her voice though and looked at him with astonished eyes. "That was incredible! I mean, magic DOES exist! Can you teach me? Can you help me control my mind reading?"

Slade raised his hands, one still holding the hairpin.

"Whoa. Slow down and breathe, Jean. And yes, I'll be able to teach you this and how to control your telepathy. That's what it's called. However, you'll have to ask your parents first but I already have an idea about that."

Jean looked perplexed and the pressure on Slade's shield rose for a second before they subsided. It seemed as if she unconsciously increased the pressure whenever she was curious about something.

"What's the idea?"

However, Slade heard steps coming down the stairs and knew Dr. Philips was on his way.

"Just follow my lead when your parents arrive."

Dr. Philips entered the room and smiled when he saw that Slade and Jean were getting along.

"Sorry it took so long but I couldn't seem to find it. Here it is though."

Dr. Philips presented Slade with an amulet that looked simple enough. It had a red gem-like center in the center of a coat of arms which Slade guessed was Dr. Philips's family coat of arms on a gold chain. Slade stretched out his still weak magical senses and sure enough, sensed a little bit of magic in the amulet. Slade smiled slightly.

"Thanks, Dr. Philips. I'll bring this to my dad and he'll bring it back as soon as he's checked it over. I'd like to stay and talk to Jean until her parents get here though. I want to ask them if they'd let her come over to my house today."

Dr. Philips had a teasing grin on his face.

"Already bringing girls home, Slade? You're starting much younger than most but I guess Jean here is kind of pretty."

Slade and Jean blushed at the insinuation and refused to look at each other. Slade stammered a denial. "I-It's not that! I-I mean, she is pretty but she's just my friend!" Beside him, Jean nodded her agreement though her blush deepened when Slade said she was pretty.

Dr. Philips chuckled. "I'm just joking, Slade. I'm glad you two are friends and you're welcome to wait for Jean's parents. I called them and they'll be here soon to pick her up."

Dr. Philips left them alone and entered his office, leaving the two children alone and still blushing at his comment. They eventually pushed back their blushes and started talking about normal things while they waited for Jean's parents. They found they had a lot in common since both were quite smart and loved to read. They were just arguing which book were better The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Jean) or Lord of the Rings (Slade) when Jean's parents arrived through the door.

Mr. Grey had black hair with streaks of gray much like Slade's own father and had kind green eyes. Mrs. Grey was blonde with blue eyes and had a soft smile on her face at seeing the two of them talking like normal children. Mr. Grey looked surprised at Slade's presence but smiled when he saw Jean acting like normal.

"Well, who's your friend Jean?"

Jean smiled happily at her parents, masking the pain hearing their thoughts brought her.

"This is my friend, Slade. Slade, this is my mom and dad."

Slade stepped forward and shook both their hands as his father had taught him.

"It's pleasure to meet you. I'm Slade Strange."

Mr. Grey's eyebrows rose at the surname.

"Strange? You mean as in Dr. Stephen Strange?"

Slade smiled proudly.

"He's my dad actually."

Mr. Grey's eyebrows rose.

"Really? I didn't know he had a son but then again he hasn't been in the medical world in a few years so it is possible. Why are you here?"

Slade smiled at the direct question.

"Well, I was just picking up something from Dr. Philips for my dad and ran into Jean here. I heard what her problem is and I think my dad might be able to help."

Both elder Greys looked at Slade intently at that.

"Are you sure?" asked Mrs. Grey.

"I mean, we've been to a few psychologists in the past year and none have been able to help. Could Dr. Strange help?"

Slade nodded in reassurance.

"Sure. See, I have an eidetic memory so I tend to study ahead a lot. I remember my dad some cases he'd been in while he was a neurosurgeon and he explained a case a lot like this. When someone watches someone they care for die tragically, the mind wants to connect to that person in any way possible. Jean here probably wanted to hear her friends' thoughts and so her mind made her believe she could them right before she died. However, because she's young and couldn't understand that her friend was gone it never turned 'off' so to speak. So her mind still thinks she can read minds and is forcing her to imagine people's thoughts. There are many documented cases of similar instances when someone watches a loved one die in their arms but most are adults. Adult minds are more experienced so can deny such urges. My dad had a case of a man that had a similar problem as Jean when he was young but never got any treatment for it and by the time my dad got to him they had to operate to help him. Luckily, Jean is still young and it shouldn't be necessary but my dad does need to see her for the next few years to treat her and make sure there isn't a regression."

Jean was open mouthed at his explanation and if she hadn't seen him change the pencil to a hairpin before she would have believed his explanation. He sounded so smart and Jean could sense that her parents believed it completely. Jean internally cheered at finally meeting someone who could help her so she could finally sleep in peace. She hadn't been able to sleep well ever since the accident due to the many minds crowding into her thoughts. The elder Greys smiled happily and the mother nodded tearfully.

"Please, we'll pay anything. We just want our daughter to be better."

Slade smiled softly though a part of him questioned if his own original parents would be as worried if he had the same problem before shaking it off.

"No payment necessary, but please I know my dad and he will be happy to help."

Slade turned to Jean and smiled genuinely.

"So, ready to face the future?"

Jean smiled and nodded.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: And cut. There first chapter done and dusted. Please review or favorite or else I WILL SEND YOU TO THE VOID MAHAHAHAHAHAHA! (Whack) ahh PAIN! Anyway here is the list of possible additions to Slade's harem. In no particular order:**

**Neena Thurman/Domino**

**Anna Marie/Rogue**

**Brunnhilde/Valkyrie **

**Illyana Rasputin/Magik**

**Eva Bell/Tempus**

**Rita Wayword/Spiral**

**Raven Darkholme/Mystique **

**Nico Minoru**

**Ava Ayala/White Tiger**

**If you have any problems or suggestions, please don't hesitate to let me know. This is Death Legion signing off.**


	3. Chapter 2: Saving of a Witch

**Chapter 2: Saving of a Witch**

* * *

><p>Slade sighed as he walked through the halls of the New York Academy for Advanced Learning.<p>

It had been five years since he met Jean and they had quickly become best friends in the way only children with no other friends did. They shared everything with each other and Slade almost always let her go through his mind at will due to how much he trusted her. Jean had a similar backdoor for him through her psychic defenses and they would often talk telepathically with each other even when they were separated.

Slade was now 14 years old, with a height of 5'8" and had silver streaks in his hair (probably due to his magical adoption). He was wearing the school uniform which consisted of a white short-sleeve dress shirt (thankfully no tie was necessary) and black pants as well as a perpetual bored expression on his face. The way he seemed to just brush everything off and still get near perfect grades made many girls in the school swoon over him. Not that he knew, of course. Jean made it her job to keep the "hussies" away from her friend especially since she didn't see him as often as she did before.

About two years ago a man named Professor Xavier had come to meet Jean. He explained that she wasn't a witch but a mutant, which was a person with an extra gene that he called the X-gene. This certainly explained that while Jean was a genius when it came to the mental aspects of magic (telekinesis, telepathy, sensing people, etc.) she by all accounts sucked in everything else. She couldn't summon mystic bolts like Slade but instead created a variation of her telekinesis and telepathy that basically attacked the person both physically and attacked their mind as well. Slade had quickly declared it cooler than even his own since defending against hers physically still affected the person mentally, which few people had a defense against.

Since then, Jean would divide her time between training with Prof. Xavier, Slade and school. She had refused to abandon her friend and so Prof. Xavier had his training sessions with Jean at Dr. Strange's mansion. He also spent a lot of time sharing ideas with Dr. Strange so it wasn't completely out of his way. She enrolled into the same school as Slade in New York in order to spend more time with him. However, this would the last year they would be at the same school together. Next year, Jean would go to the Xavier Institute which was really a front to train young mutants in their powers. Both were crushed by it but no amount of pleading would convince either Dr. Strange or Xavier to allow her to stay with Slade. While remarkably advanced in her powers, she still didn't grasp the finer things like fine control and Prof. Xavier said she needed to stay at the school full-time to master them.

However, Slade didn't let this get them down and was determined that they should spend as much time together as possible before she left. When she did leave, he promised that he would visit her as often as possible no matter what and that they would stay best friends. Unknown to Slade, Jean's heart had skipped a beat at his declaration and she inwardly cheered. Unfortunately, despite the fact that Slade was in the same grade as her (Dr. Strange allowed him to skip a grade but said no when Slade asked if he could just skip high school altogether), the school they attended separated them into different classes. They still shared 4 out of 6 classes together but the time apart was boring since they were already ahead of the other students.

While not possessing Slade's eidetic memory, Jean had trained her mental powers so she could recall things with very little effort. This made it so she was almost as advanced Slade himself. However, both Dr. Strange and Professor Xavier told them that they should have as normal a childhood as possible and so made them stay in the 9th grade with their peers rather than skip ahead. This left them bored most of the time.

Slade's smile left his face as he entered the classroom when he saw the school "jock" talking to Jean near the back of the room where he and Jean normally sat.

Lance was considered by most as the most popular boy in their grade. Since Jean was unanimously considered the most popular and attractive girl of their grade he had brilliantly decided that that meant they were meant to be together. Of course, Jean didn't see it that way and constantly rebuffed his advances which angered him. It angered him even more that Jean spent all her time with Slade since he thought Slade a "Slacker" since he skipped a few classes, had a devil may care altitude and always wore aviators. Jean had grown into a beautiful 14 year old girl with legs that had some muscle to them due to physical training and a slim figure. She was also one of the girls who were developing early and this got her a lot of male attention, much to her ire. Jean both liked and was annoyed by the fact that Slade still treated her like he always did despite her growing figure. She liked it because it meant he didn't like her due to her figure alone and it annoyed her because he was the one boy that she wished would stare at her that way.

However, despite what Lance thought about Slade being a Slacker, he was too afraid of Slade to say it to his face. He had tried to pick on Slade once and Slade used what he knew of self-defense to beat them down without leaving a bruise to implicate him as having attacked them. Just a few pokes in a few nerve clusters and Lance and his group were down for the count. Jean had been disapproving but had quickly changed her tune when Slade explained they had attacked him so he would stay away from her. She had responded to that by kicking Lance's downed form in the nuts.

Slade sighed at the sight of a rapidly getting angry Jean being bothered by Lance. Jean was wearing the girl version of the school uniform which was a black skirt an inch above the knee and a white short-sleeve blouse. The worst part of the encounter was that Lance was openly ogling her legs as he argued with her which she had quickly noticed. It seemed as if some people never learned. Jean seemed to be trying to stop him from sitting in the chair next to her (which she was reserving for Slade) and Lance was trying to force himself on the chair against her will. Slade walked up to where Jean was and heard their argument.

"-ust let me sit there! That loser can sit somewhere else!"

Jean looked livid at Lance calling Slade a loser and angrily retorted. "If you sit there I'll sit on the floor, Lance! I'd rather sit there then be anywhere near you!"

Lance was about to grab Jean's arm roughly when Slade arrived and stopped his arm from touching her. Despite still being lean, Slade's body had gained muscle and he was built like a runner or swimmer now. Despite Lance being an inch or two taller than Slade, he had almost no muscle and most of his weight was just fat. It amused Slade that Lance was thinking of trying out for the football team next year. This all contributed into Slade squeezing Lance's wrist so hard that he winced and tried to futilely pull his hand out of his grip.

Slade's eyes were as cold as ice as he spoke.

"I believe the lady said she didn't want you to sit next to her. A gentleman should listen to a lady's wishes, especially when she asks nicely the first time. Don't you think?"

Lance winced at Slade's grip and tried to cover it up by sneering at him.

"Yeah well, whatever. I found a better seat somewhere else anyway."

Slade let Lance go and Lance rubbed his wrist before walking up the aisle to sit next to the head cheerleader Prissy's desk. Like always, Prissy tried to comfort him and Lance lapped it all up. Slade snidely thought that it wouldn't be long before she spread her legs for him.

Slade turned backed to Jean who was looking at him in a mixture of gratefulness and anger.

"I could have handled it, you know."

Slade just gave her a charming smile that caused her to blush slightly.

"I know but I didn't want you to ruin your spotless record by getting detention after you beat him up."

Jean smiled and winked which caused Slade to chuckle as he sat to the chair she'd reserved for him. It was to her left and right next to the window which gave him a view of the gates. Jean had taken self-defense lessons with Wong at the same time as Slade did and was as good as Slade when it came to close combat. Neither were experts or ever would be most likely but both could defend themselves from most enemies. Growing up in Dr. Strange's house (or visiting a lot in Jean's case) caused them to get into quite a lot of dangerous situations when his job as Master of the Mystic Arts spilled over into his personal life. Slade couldn't remember how many times his father's enemies tried to capture him in order to hold him hostage. Luckily, they never succeeded to a mix of his own skills, luck and Jean always being nearby. Jean was very protective of her best friend and when angered, her telekinesis prowess spiked to almost god-like proportions. His father said that that was a demonstration of how powerful she'd be once she was older and mastered her powers.

Slade got comfortable as the Math class began. They were currently learning geometry which they had learned over two years ago so Jean and Slade went to their old stand-by.

Slade opened his telepathic eyes within the astral realm he and Jean had created. Neither knew exactly where it was only that it was a mix of Slade and Jean's minds and they alone controlled any aspect of it. The one time his father had been allowed in he had been unable to change anything they didn't allow him to change.

They had created this world so they could sit, talk and even practice their abilities with each other while still aware of the outside world. On the outside, they acted completely normal; moving slightly so they don't stand still like statues and even wrote down and did the classwork like everyone else. This was due to having already pre-programmed responses for normal situations. They also had alarms in case they were called on or something happened and could instantly return to the outside world without anyone but another telepath being the wiser.

This time around they wanted to finish the chess game they started last period when Slade was in English and Jean was in History. Even when separated, they talked to each other telepathically and often went entire periods just talking rather than listen to stuff they already knew.

Slade's astral form was dressed in black pants with black boots and a dark grey muscle shirt with a fusion of both his pendent and adoptive father's symbols in the middle. He also had a leather trench coat with a hood and a mask that was like a constant moving ink blot test over it to complete the look.

Meanwhile, Jean's astral form was dressed in a skin tight leotard-like outfit that seemed to have no way of getting out of. It extended to her wrists and heels and was completely green in color. She also had yellow elbow-length gloves and yellow knee high boots that seemed to be part of the fabric itself and only a tiny schism could be seen so you knew they were separate from the rest. She also had a yellow sash tied around her waist with the two ends hanging loosely from her right hip where they were tied.

Jean had once promised that once she mastered her powers she would help Slade fight against the forces that his father constantly fought to protect the world. She had gone girly and designed this outfit as her superhero outfit for that day. Slade had jokingly said that they could form their own superhero team and they had laughed at the idea at the time. Nowadays, however, Slade had been giving it some serious thought but shelved it for a later date.

Slade couldn't help but notice how much Jean's outfit clung to her body better than he had ever realized before. He could only gulp as he looked up from her shapely legs created from years of training up toward her slim waist and her slowly developing breasts. He had just recently started noticing girls as more than potential friends and realized that Jean was more than just pretty. She was beautiful. Luckily, in the astral plane physical reactions wouldn't appear so Slade appreciation would go mostly unnoticed.

Jean had also been checking Slade out and blushed slightly at the sight of Slade's chest. Of course, her blush didn't appear on her face since it was the astral plane so she had no fear of him noticing. While she may have outwardly disapproved of his choice of outfit since it was a little too dark for her, inwardly she thought it made him look dreamy.

Jean had discovered boys or more to the point discovered that Slade was handsome over two years ago. Since then she had been discreetly keeping other girls away for fear that she'd be stuck as "the friend" while he dated some other girl. Luckily, Slade seemed to have no interest in other girls besides her and was completely oblivious to the way some of the girls stared at him. A day didn't go by where Jean didn't read some girl's mind thinking of ways to separate him from her so she could move in. However, while she kept the girls away, she was too shy to make a move herself. She thought that Slade only saw her as his best friend and nothing more. She was too respectful of Slade's privacy as well as afraid of what she'd find to telepathically see for herself what he felt for her.

Both eventually came back to themselves and blushed slightly before sitting down on their side of the chess board. Slade was black while Jean was white. They had picked up telepathic chess from Professor Xavier and since then did it as often as possible. This pushed their telepathic abilities to the limit since they had to reach the astral plane, imagine the surroundings as well as play the chess game. Luckily, neither Xavier nor Slade's father knew they did this during school hours or else they'd be grounded for a month.

It was currently Slade's turn so he made his move and so continued their game.

Slade and Jean returned to their bodies just as the bell rang. No one had noticed a thing and Slade inwardly grinned at the success of his discreet Notice-Me-Not charm. He had cast it silently just after he sat down and made Jean the only exception to the charm's effect. It was one of the many spells he had learned from his private study of wand-magic. While not as powerful as true magic, it did have a more diverse repertoire of harmless spells. As he stood up, Slade had a slight frown while Jean was smiling since she won the game this time. That meant that Slade had to buy lunch today. He sighed and canceled the charm when no one was looking before they walked out of the classroom.

While everyone walked toward the lunchroom, Slade caught Jean's eye and discreetly nodded. Jean understood and used her abilities to cause everyone in the school to forget about them for the next hour. Originally, Professor Xavier had wanted to block her telepathic abilities until she had the maturity to use them but Slade's father had convinced him not to. By that time, Jean had already been using it with Slade for over two years and had established a psychic bond with him. Any damage to Jean's telepathic abilities would have also affected Slade and Strange had refused to allow anything to happen to Slade. Luckily, Xavier had conceded once Slade's father said he would guide her in its use whenever he could.

After making sure it worked, they quietly moved out through the doors and into the courtyard. Once they checked the coast was clear, Jean levitated them over the wall and onto the street on the other side.

Slade smiled and offered Jean his elbow. "Well, good lady, want to join me for lunch?"

Jean chuckled and interlocked her arm with his. "Why yes, good sir, I do think I will."

The pair chuckled and walked down the street like that, playfully arguing about where to eat. They finally decided on pizza and where walking toward the nearest pizza place when they heard a scuffle down a nearby alley. They looked at each other and nodded before running toward the noise. They turned the corner down the alley and found something that caused both their bloods to boil.

There was an auburn-haired girl dressed in a ragged red blouse that looked as if it had seen better days and a yellow skirt being held against the wall by some guy with brown hair. What really got them angry was that he was holding her up against the wall with one hand since the other was trying to unbuckle his pants. It was obvious what he was going to do and just as they were going to do something, the girl raised her right hand from where she was trying to get him to let her go and aimed at the man's face.

"NO!"

Red energy seemed to pulse out of her hand and hit the man straight in the face. The man flew back and hit the wall opposite but seemed to be otherwise unharmed. The man checked himself and glared at the girl who was sobbing on the floor.

"What are you, some kind of witch or freak?" The man just sneered and shook his head. "Doesn't matter cause once I'm done with your body I'll just slit your throat!"

Once he said that, Slade and Jean finally reacted. Jean grabbed him using telekinesis causing him to float in the air while Slade turned the nearby pipes into rope and telekinetically tied him up. The man struggled and screamed but couldn't escape and no one heard his yells due to the alley being too far from the street for his voice to carry.

Slade turned to Jean and frowned. "You know the drill, Jean. Erase his memories so he doesn't remember any of us." Slade looked at the still sobbing girl on the floor and his eyes softened. "I'll see if the girl's alright."

Jean nodded, although internally she wished to beat the man a while longer but restrained herself. Both Dr. Strange and Xavier told them that they shouldn't use their powers to harm others no matter how much they deserved it unless they had no other choice. Grumbling under her breath, Jean touched the man's head despite his struggles and he stilled as she started erasing his memories of the last 24 hours. It was overkill but no less than what he deserved for attempting to rape a teenage girl. The man had to be at 40 at the very least for God's sake!

Meanwhile, Slade slowly walked up to the girl and kneeled beside her before laying a hand on her shoulder, causing her to still. "Hey, are you okay? He didn't hurt you too bad right?"

The girl raised her head, revealing blue eyes that looked confused at his concern. "W-Who are you? Aren't you going to call me a witch too?" Her English had a strange accent that reminded Slade of gypsies for some reason but he quickly shook it off.

Slade smiled at the irony. "Well, if you were then that makes me a wizard or a sorcerer, doesn't it?" At her confused look, Slade winked and turned the nearby pipe into another rope before her eyes. The girl was wide-eyed and shocked at the display and looked at him with hope.

"Y-You're... You're like me?"

Slade smiled and nodded. "Yep, I'm an honest to God sorcerer. Well, sorcerer-in-training. My dad still says I have a lot to learn before I'm ready to call myself one."

The girl was wide-eyed at the admission and hesitantly spoke. "Can... Can he teach me too? I don't want to keep hurting people by mistake."

Slade had a mischievous smile before he spoke. "Well, first you should tell me your name, shouldn't you? I'm Slade Strange and this is my friend Jean Grey." Jean had just finished erasing the man's memories before making him go to sleep and waved at the girl. "She's not a witch like us but as you can see she also has special powers so that makes her one of us. What's your name?"

The girl blushed and softly spoke. "My name is Wanda Maximoff."

Slade smiled encouragingly. "That's a pretty name. Tell me Wanda, where are your parents?"

Wanda's eyebrows furrowed and she grabbed her head as if in pain before she spoke.

"I-I... I don't remember. All I remember was people yelling and calling me a witch before being grabbed and the world spinning. I think my powers activated and I woke up here when that man grabbed me."

Slade cocked an eyebrow and turned to Jean who understood what he wanted. Jean placed a hand on Wanda's head and closed her eyes for a minute before opening them again. She shook her head and stood back up.

"Sorry but I can't get her memories back. I saw a few things though. I think... her parents are dead. That's what I got anyway."

Wanda looked distraught at that but Slade was quick to reassure her.

"Hey, that's no problem. We'll take you to my dad and he'll know what to do. But first," Slade looked at her ripped skirt and blouse and sighed at the hit his allowance was going to get, "we need to get you some clothes. After that, we're gonna go get you something to eat. You look hungry."

Wanda smiled and shyly nodded just as her stomach growled, causing her to blush in embarrassment. Slade and Jean chuckled and led her out of the alley and toward the nearest clothing store.

'The next time I offer to pay for a girl's shopping spree may God strike me down with a lightning bolt for my sheer stupidity,' Slade inwardly groused.

He was currently playing the part of pack mule, carrying at least five bags while Jean and Wanda walked ahead of him and talked as if they had been friends for years. Both girls were the shy type and so quickly clicked. They found they had similar taste in clothing (which consisted in fashionable yet affordable clothing) and both liked to read. Slade couldn't help but wonder if the fact that they were both red-heads also affected the way they bonded in anyway.

Jean looked back at him at that thought and playfully glared at him causing him to wink and chuckle. Jean just rolled her eyes and turned back to Wanda.

Wanda had missed the byplay due to her fascination with the sights around her. Wanda was now wearing a yellow shirt and black jeans, both of which were pretty skin tight and showed her developing figure. Slade had realized that she was growing to match Jean in the looks department. It was also painfully obvious that Wanda had never seen anything like New York before and Slade couldn't help but wonder if he had a similar look on his face the first time he saw the city as well.

"Probably worse considering what you've told me of your time with your...old place," said Jean telepathically in distaste. Slade had told Jean about his past before he was adopted Dr. Strange after he let slip that he had an eidetic memory. Slade couldn't lie to Jean no matter what and so was forced to tell her about his early childhood. To say that Jean had been angry was an understatement. She had been furious and at the same time sad that Slade had lived like that and promised him that she would never allow him to be alone again.

It was Slade's greatest fear: that he would be abandoned and forced to live in isolation. After having tasted freedom, Slade would fight tooth and nail to keep it no matter what.

Wanda looked from Slade to Jean with a curious look in her eyes. "Sooo... are you two... dating or just good friends?"

Both blushed at her question and looked away from each other before Slade cleared his throat.

"We're best friends, nothing more."

Jean couldn't help but be let down at his answer. Since she was only going to school with him for another year, she had hoped he would want to become more before she left. However, it seemed as if he didn't like as anything more than a friend and it broke her heart.

The group eventually reached the pizza place and ordered a large pepperoni pizza and three large sodas. As they waited for the food to arrive, Slade turned to Wanda.

"So, how long have you been able to do that?"

Luckily, Wanda knew what he was talking about and frowned slightly.

"That was actually the first time it happened that I remember. I just wanted him to go away and it felt like... something welled up inside me and shot out of my hand. I can't describe it better than that."

Slade nodded thoughtfully. He had been wondering if her power was magic or mutation but was coming up with a blank. It had certainly felt like magic when she used it but then again, it could be that her mutation simply feels like magic. He had thought Jean was magical when they first met too and that had taught him not to instantly believe everyone with abilities were magical in nature.

That last thought Slade up short. Nature... could her mutation simply be to allow her access to true magic at a young age? True magic is rarely learned until after a person masters the basics or at least until they are adults. This was due to the inherent power in using it can corrupt and harm an unprepared person. An adult would be better prepared to handle such power while a child would probably attempt to use it for childish things like ice cream and the like.

Slade tried not to blush as he remembered his attempts to look up a spell that made infinite choc-chip strawberry ice cream when he was 10.

Anyway, he wouldn't know until his father did a blood work on her to see if she had the X-gene. Either way, she had to be trained by his father, not by Prof. Xavier. Slade had sensed that her power was magical in nature and whether her mutation allowed her to access magic or simply one aspect of it, it didn't matter. Magic was magic no matter what the source and Prof. Xavier can't train her in something he has no knowledge of. Only his father could do that.

The sound of someone clearing her throat brought him out of his contemplations and he looked up to see a curious Jean and a nervous Wanda. Slade smiled sheepishly and spoke quietly.

"Sorry. I was just wondering whether you were a magical like me or a mutant like Jean here. It doesn't matter though because you still have to be trained by my dad."

Jean frowned. "But if she's a mutant, shouldn't she be trained by Prof. Xavier?" Wanda looked from Slade to Jean in confusion.

Slade frowned heavily. "No. Her ability, no matter whether magical or mutation in origin, uses magic. Prof. Xavier had no knowledge of magic beyond that it exists and therefore can't train her in it. Shooting in the dark can be very dangerous when it comes to training someone's magic since it could damage themselves and others around them by mistake." Slade shook his head forcefully. "No. She needs to train under a professional. If not, her powers could stagnate or worse, mutate into something beyond her conscious control."

Wanda had been getting steadily paler during the latter part of his explanation until at the end she looked like a ghost. Slade realized this and gave her a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, I won't let that happen. You can stay with me and my dad and we'll train you."

Wanda seemed reassured and smiled thankfully. Jean looked thoughtful but nodded her head to show she understood.

The three ate in silence for a while before the pizza and sodas arrived. They ate in silence, with Wanda eating the majority of the pizza. It seemed it had been a while since she last ate but neither Jean nor Slade said a word of complaint and simply ordered another small pizza. After they were done, Slade paid for it and left a generous tip for the fast service.

The group of three picked up their bags (or more like made Slade carry them) before they walked toward Slade's house. By this time, Jean and Slade were obviously skipping class but thought that Wanda's plight was more important than going to classes where they would be bored the entire time.

The group eventually reached Slade's house and Jean rang the doorbell since Slade was otherwise occupied with carrying the bags. They only had to wait a minute before the door opened.

Wong was standing there with a bemused look on his face as he took in the sight of Slade carrying a lot of bags, Wanda in what was obviously new clothing, and Jean standing there with a sheepish look on her face.

Wong sighed. "Young master, we must have a conversation about wooing women. It isn't necessary to buy them clothing if you want to ask them out on a date and even then... two women at once? I think you should work your way up to that."

Slade spluttered denials while Wanda and Jean turned red in embarrassment as they entered the house. Slade's denials were cut off when another familiar voice was heard.

"But first, you can tell me why you both are home so early when you're supposed to be at school."

Slade and Jean cringed at the admonishment in Dr. Strange's tone as he stood at the top of the stairs. Despite his tone, it seemed he already knew why if the exasperated look on his face was any indication.

Slade put down the bags and tried to defend their actions. "Well, we met Wanda here and saved her from some guy that obviously was never taught that no means no and that there is such a thing as pedophilia. Afterwards, she told us she was alone and we couldn't just leave her so I told her we'd buy her some clothes and go eat and well..." Slade looked at the 10 bags of clothing he had been carrying. "... It got a little out of hand."

Strange walked down the stairs with an amused look. "Let that be a lesson for you, Slade. Never say the words 'no limit' around women when talking about shopping." Strange chuckled as Jean gave an indignant huff at his words. His eyes then landed on Wanda who was fidgeting slightly under his gaze. He gave her a warm smile that put her at ease. "Well then Wanda. My son is obviously keeping something out for dramatic purposes but considering his luck you must have some sort of ability that convinced him to bring you to me."

Wanda meekly nodded before shyly speaking. "Y-Yes. My name is Wanda Maximoff. While I was... being attacked, I sent the man flying to the opposite wall when I hit him with a red light. Slade says it felt like magic when I used it and that you could help me learn."

Strange nodded in understanding. "Very well then. Wong," Wong stepped forward at his call. "Please lead Ms. Maximoff to the guest room next to the room Ms. Grey uses when she visits. I'll be up there shortly."

Wong nodded and took the 8 bags of clothing that belonged to Wanda as he led her up the stairs. Wanda sent Slade a worried look but he just winked at her in reassurance, causing her to blush. Once Wanda and Wong left, Strange turned to the two teenagers with disappointed look on his face.

"Now then, can you explain to me just how you found Ms. Maximoff when you were supposed to be in school?"

Jean and Slade paled as they realized that the fact that they had left the school during lunch was revealed. Only juniors and up are allowed to leave the school, neither of which they were.

Strange just smiled at their deer in the headlights look. "Well, I'll just leave your punishment to your two newest instructors."

At his declaration, the sound of two people walking down the stairs was heard and the teens looked to see who it was.

There was a man and a woman standing at the foot of the stairs. One was an old woman that looked around 70 with white hair that reached just below her shoulder and blue eyes while wearing a red dress that looked like it came from 300 years ago. She also had a purple shawl around her shoulders and was carrying a black cat in her arms. The cat was creepy since it was staring at them without blinking. The man looked to be in his 30s at most but had an ageless quality to him much like Slade's father. He had black hair and an uneasy aura surrounding him which was made worse by his red eyes and the katana hanging horizontally on his back. He looked to be of Japanese descent but had his hair cut short rather than placed in a ponytail like most Japanese swordsmen. It wasn't until he smirked and Slade caught sight of a fang that Slade realized that he was vampire and by the fact that he seemed completely at ease around them, it showed that he was old enough to have control of his thirst. He was wearing a black jumpsuit made of some unidentifiable material and red armor in select places like his elbows, knees and chest.

Dr. Strange smiled at the look on their faces before clearing his throat. "Now, these are Agatha Harkness, the world's foremost magical psychic, and Raiza Kodo, a vampire that has chosen to rise above his brethren and not feed on humans. Raiza has been around for centuries and is a master of many forms of combat and weapons and has earned my trust. He will be your combat instructor while Agatha will teach you both various ways to use your mental gifts. I will leave your punishment to them."

With that, Strange walked up the stairs trying to hide a grin while their instructors sized the children up. Agatha was the first to speak.

"Well, since you two think school is beneath you we'll start with you reading various books about ethics as well as the consequences of various wars."

Raiza then cut in, his voice lacking any accent and sounding rich and cultured, which was expected since he had lived for centuries. "Of course, you'll be reading it while doing fifty laps around the training room."

Slade and Jean's eyes almost rolled out of their sockets. The training room was the basement level and was magically expanded so it was around 80 acres big on the inside while taking no more space than expected on the outside. Fifty laps around it while reading whatever book Agatha gave them would take forever! Both teens thought the same thing at the same time.

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><p><strong>As always read &amp; review.<strong>


	4. Chapter 3: A Lesson Learned

**Chapter 3: A Lesson Learned**

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><p>Slade was sure it was all over. Everything hurt as if he had been dipped in acid and then flayed alive. He couldn't get a single muscle to move without almost passing unconscious from the pain. He suddenly saw a bright light and felt as if his soul was leaving his body...<p>

"Oh get up, brats, it's not that bad," said an amused Raiza Kodo, who was currently standing over them and chuckling at their exaggeration.

Slade and Jean had just finished their fifty laps and were currently dramatically moaning about their pain as they laid on the floor. Agatha had left a while ago with a threat of making them do it from the beginning if they didn't finish, leaving them with Raiza. At first, Slade had been ecstatic to be taught by a vampire since he considered them kind of cool and wondered if he would teach him everything he knew. Now, however, he considered Raiza the incarnation of evil itself.

Slade and Jean just moaned in pain as if the very thought of moving caused them pain. Raiza smirked and rolled his eyes at their dramatics.

"Tell you what. You get up and put those books away and I'll train you in your weapon of choice."

Just like that, Jean and Slade got up and hobbled out of the room to put the books away, with only their limps and occasional groans of pain giving away how sore they were. Raiza smirked at them as they left and shook his head at their dramatics. Still, to be able to finish the laps at all while reading those huge 10 pound book Agatha gave them was pretty impressive. About halfway through they had learned the trick of pacing themselves according to how quickly they read so as to not finish the laps or the book too early. They didn't realize it but the distraction of reading prevented them from focusing too much on the pain in their muscles, therefore allowing them to run despite the pain as well as unconsciously channel their powers through their muscles. This allowed them to run for longer and faster than normal people their age should be able to.

Slade and Jean soon returned with Wanda and Agatha in tow. Agatha once again had her black cat in her arms while Wanda was dressed in a red blouse with black pants. Wanda was looking around in awe at the room which was obviously expanded by magic or else it wouldn't fit in the street, much less under their single mansion house.

Raiza raised an eyebrow at the sight of Wanda and Agatha explained. "Dr. Strange has already made arrangements for her to live here with the others. Apparently she has a brother from what little we could see of her memories and we don't want to change her last name in case he comes looking for her. Apparently, the trauma of what happened has caused her to repress those memories and the good doctor thinks its best to leave them repressed until she's mature enough to deal with them. Meanwhile, it's my turn to explain what these two have read as well as basic magical theory."

Raiza nodded and turned to Slade and Jean who were sitting on the floor. "Well, have you two decided what weapon you wish to learn how to use?"

Slade smiled hesitantly before speaking. "Actually, I always wanted to learn how to use a katana. I've always found the way samurai and ninja could use them to be awesome. I've read a bit on enchanting and stuff and I've always wanted to make my own katana in order to enchant it myself. Books say that creating your weapon yourself makes it easier to enchant and the spells tend to be stronger."

Raiza nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, in my time the sorcerer usually just stayed by the side of the one making the weapon in order to cast the necessary spells as the metal is reheated and cooled. However, they always said that the enchantments would be stronger if they made the weapon with their own hands. That's part of the reason why Musamane's blades are considered the strongest. He made them with his own hands while enchanting them. Very well, I will teach you how to wield a katana. However, you're not quite tall enough to wield a full katana easily so I will teach you using a ninjato first and then we'll move to the katana when you're bigger." Raiza then turned to Jean. "And you? What do you wish to learn how to use?"

Jean bit her lip in thought. "Well, I'm going to be moving to the Xavier Institute next year so you won't have a lot of time to teach me but... I've always been fascinated by the sai. They seem like such an exotic weapon but I imagine it's hard to learn how to use."

Raiza nodded. "It is. The sai are meant for people who are ambidextrous since you use two at a time. It is difficult of not impossible to fight another weapon user with only one due to its shorter reach and hard to handle form. However, while you won't be an expert by the time you leave you can at least have some proficiency in it. In these times, every little bit helps."

Jean frowned. "Um, Mr. Kodo, sir? You know I'm a mutant, right?" At his nod, she continued. "Well, Prof. Xavier thinks we can coexist with normal people and help them. I was just wondering... do you think that's possible? I'm just asking since Dr. Strange has always seemed undecided on that point."

Raiza's eyebrows furrowed slightly. "I... cannot say for certain. As a vampire, I personally know that people fear what they do not understand. However, that may be simply because I'm a vampire and most of us do feed on them in order to survive so perhaps it's understandable for them to fear and hate us. However, I know this for certain... peace between mutant and human will come at a cost. Most likely, at the cost of blood and the lives of innocents. Even if the majority of the population accept mutants, there will be splinter groups who will attack them or attempt to use them for their own ends. Once they are made known to the general public, mutants will be besieged on all sides and normal people will turn a blind eye to their problems. This isn't because of lack of compassion but simply because they do not wish to get involved and be targeted by those groups as well."

Slade frowned heavily. "But... won't the government protect them? I mean, mutants or not they are still American citizens, right?"

Raiza smiled sadly at the naivety of youth. "It is not that simple, I'm afraid. The government will be split much like the general populace between those for mutants, against mutants and those that are neutral. They cannot openly go against mutants if the public supports them since it would violate their Constitution of Freedom for all. However, they cannot be on their side since it would show favoritism and those that openly support them can be in danger of being kicked out of office and those against mutants be put in their place. Most likely, the government will adopt a neutral stance and leave mutant problems to mutants."

Jean nodded thoughtfully. "That's good, right? I mean, that means we won't be attacked if we're left alone."

Raiza shook his head. "No. It just means that if you are attacked then the government does not have to come to your aid unless it affects them or the public cries to help you. The war for mutants won't be a war of weapons and battles but a fight for the hearts of the public wherein the public's feelings for mutants will determine your future. You will have to be doubly careful not only to keep those mutants who wish to attack normal people in line but also to keep the public in your favor. It is not outside the realm of possibility for normal humans to turn on mutants out of fear and wish to commit another genocide like Hitler did to the Jewish. Despite their high-minded ideals, America is not so different from other countries and it can let fear and misunderstanding cloud their judgment."

Slade and Jean nodded thoughtfully before the former spoke.

"How do you know so much about how they'll react?"

Raiza smiled sadly. "Because I know something of being the only one like me. I was once the only vampire in existence that wished to not feed on humans and feed only on animals. I was considered strange and unusual and treated by the vampire Court much like that. And since vampires are nothing more than people with a few differences, it gives me an insight into human reactions."

Slade nodded his understanding before Agatha cleared her throat to attract attention.

"Well, if you are quite done philosophizing on things that might or might not happen, we should go into magical theory now."

Raiza nodded and bowed to Agatha. "Then I shall take my leave. We will have our usual sessions every morning from 5am to 7am and every evening from 4pm to 6pm on the weekdays. On Saturday, I will have you from 5am to 10am and 6pm to 8pm while Sundays are free. Wanda will join us starting tomorrow."

The children's eyes widened in shock but only Jean spoke. "B-But... 5am?! That's WAY too early! How will we sleep?!"

Raiza smiled in amusement. "Agatha's sessions are from 6pm to 8pm on weekdays and 10am to 6pm on Saturday. For weekdays you will have 8pm to 9pm to finish homework and the like. If you wish to stay later that is up to you but every day begins at 5am. No exceptions. I would suggest you simply go sleep at 9pm in order to have 8 solid hours of sleep."

The children were left dreading the next morning as he left the training room. Agatha was left smiling sardonically at them before following Raiza out the door. She poked her head back in when they didn't follow.

"Well? What are you doing there looking like monkeys? Follow me to the library. It is better suited for this discussion."

The three children scrambled after her as she led them to the library. As they walked, Slade turned to Wanda. "So, how do you like it here so far? Are you feeling better?"

Wanda nodded meekly. "Yep. Your dad was actually pretty nice about it. He says I'm officially Agatha's apprentice since he already has you as his and doesn't want to split his focus. He'll take me on after he finishes your training."

Slade nodded. "Oh, okay. So where are you from? You never did tell us?"

Wanda shrugged. "From what little I remember, we used to live in an encampment near Wundagore. At least I think so. I remember the mountain and the name but I can't remember if we lived near it or just passed by it once."

Jean looked at her with pity. "It must suck not to remember a lot about your past. How do you speak English anyway? Wundagore is in Germany, right?"

Wanda nodded. "I was taught English since it's a common language in case I needed to communicate with someone who doesn't speak German. However, I don't know how to read or write it that well yet."

Slade laid a hand on her shoulder and gave her an encouraging smile. "Don't worry, I'll help you learn and then you can go to school with me!"

Wanda blushed at his touch and smiled softly. "I'd like that."

Jean noticed the byplay and couldn't help the jealousy from rising. "I'll help too," she blurted out.

Wanda turned to her and smiled genuinely. "Thanks. I'm glad I met you and we became friends."

Her words instantly made Jean feel terrible at her jealousy. It was obvious that she hadn't had a lot of friends before and she was just grateful for the help. She shouldn't be jealous of her simply because of that. Plus, it wasn't like Slade and her were together or anything. They were just friends and their relationship was strictly platonic... right?

The thoughts continued to spin in her head until they reached the library and Jean returned to earth.

The library was actually quite massive compared to others. It took up almost 60% of the ground floor and had thousands of books ranging from anatomy to some of the rarest of tomes on magic all along the walls. The bookcases were made from a type of wood that was strongly magically resistant, allowing it to survive the sheer magical power some of the books exuded. The room had green colored walls and a red rug along the floor. There were also several staircases to reach the books on higher shelves. These staircases had been put for Slade's benefit since his father could just float up to get any book her desired.

All in all, the library had over 3,000 books on magic alone. Many were repetitive but each had a different insight into the magic, therefore allowing to see the same magic from many different perspectives. It was a treasure trove to anyone that liked to read like Jean and Slade. They had spent many a time staying up late just reading a book on telepathy and telekinesis as well as books on magical theory. While Jean would never learn magic, she found the theories on its use fascinating and they actually helped her in controlling her power. Some of the things that were described as being possible for skilled magicians sounded like something right out of a fantasy novel.

Slade had been especially fascinated by runes. Runes were considered to be the universal magic due to being able to do anything if one knew how to use runes. It's said that even gods could be taken down using runes. Slade didn't know if that was possible but the idea of a branch of magic with so much potential being so underused and unappreciated rubbed him the wrong way. He had made it his mission to become a Runemaster and bring fame back to the almost lost branch of magic.

Agatha led them to a couch near the far wall, near the section of magical history. She sat on a lounge chair in front of the couch while they all sat down on the couch with Slade in the middle and the girls on either side.

Agatha smiled enigmatically before speaking. "Now, the first and most important question is: what is magic?"

Slade thought for a minute before speaking. "Well, magic has many branches from transfiguration, white magic, banishment..."

Agatha raise her hand to cut him off. "I'm not asking about the divisions that humans made to understand it but rather what magic is."

The children stayed silent for a moment before Jean spoke. "Um... we don't know ma'am."

Agatha smiled knowingly. "That is one of the most common pitfalls when it comes to most magicians. They acquire power without first gaining understanding. Great magicians are those that acquire both hand in hand because one without the other is useless. Note that I use the term magician to speak of both wand-using wizards and true magic-using sorcerers. I will go into the difference later on. For now, I shall explain magic and what it is."

Agatha seemed to gather her thoughts before speaking. "Now, the first thing you should know is that everyone has a bit of magic inside them. Magic is nothing more or less but the ability to bring our dreams into the realm of reality. From conjuring flame to changing something's intrinsic properties, magic is simply the power to turn what we imagine into reality."

Wanda frowned before raising her hand. Agatha nodded to her so she could speak. "But... if we can make our dreams reality... then how come we need spells and incantations? Also, why hasn't any magician powerful enough tried to conquer the world?"

Agatha smiled enigmatically. "Why indeed? Despite what I said, magic does have limitations. For one, it cannot resurrect the dead. That is solely the realm of Death herself and to make the attempt is to challenge Death herself. Something only the prophesied Master of Death could try with any hope of victory."

Slade frowned at the unfamiliar title. "Master of Death? Who's that?"

Agatha sighed. "The Master of Death is a prophesied magician that will come in a time of great change. It is said that he will challenge Death for some reason and defeat her. He will then have the power to call back the dead from her realm at the cost for another's life. That shows another aspect of magic. Even the most powerful are not exempt from its rules and the most important is that every action has consequences. Usually it comes in the form of exhaustion after casting a difficult spell but for the higher tiers of magic, the price is much higher."

Agatha let that sink into their heads for a moment before continuing. "As for spells and incantations...to tell you the truth, the greatest magicians never use incantations except for the most complicated and dangerous spells and then only to gather the concentration needed. Words are used for spells in the beginning since children rarely have the concentration to perform a spell silently. Most magicians learn it later on, when their master or teacher believe they have sufficient maturity. I, personally, believe that to be poppycock. If you teach them while they're young, then they won't form the bad habit of relying on words later on in life. Young Strange for example is very powerful but is so used to using his hands and incantations that tying him up and gagging him makes him as useless as any other middle-aged man. That's not even mentioning his narrow focus when it comes to magic."

Slade frowned at the slight on his father. "Dad is one of the most powerful magicians in the world and considered to be the next Sorcerer Supreme. He knows a whole bunch about magic."

Agatha raised her hand in her defense. "Peace, young Slade. I mean no offense. To tell you the truth, you are correct. Young Strange is one of the most powerful magicians to have ever graced the Earth and indeed, he will most probably become Sorcerer Supreme at some point in the future. However, he focuses too much on what he calls "white magic" and ignores the other aspects of magic. I'm not saying he should use black magic but there are many more branches than just white magic. For example, there is elemental magic, druid magic, or even rune magic. However, he stubbornly sticks to white magic and while it makes him the most powerful user of it to have ever lived it makes him limited. There may come a time where it fails him and people like that tend to believe that such failures are a result of their own weaknesses rather than the inherent limitations of their chosen branch."

Slade frowned and nodded his understanding. Despite the fact that he loved his father, he had noticed that as well. When he had first discovered rune magic, he had gone to his father for tutoring only to find out that his father knew very little on runes. He knew how to identify them and could guess what effect a certain sequence would create but couldn't cast it or even enchant anything using them. He enchanted things by layering charms and spoken enchantments onto objects until it saturated the object. Slade considered runes better when it came to enchanting because they used the ambient magic to power them and one could place many more effects on an object using runes. With charms there was always a set limit to the amount of charms an object could take but the only limit in using runes is the amount of magic in the caster and the space to draw the runes.

Agatha continued her explanation. "Now, as I was saying. Magicians use words and incantations for a very simple reason. They use it because magic is alive."

At this, the children's eyes widened in shock. Wanda was the first to recover. "W-What? How can it be alive? I mean... I know it's a form of energy but... how can energy be alive?"

Agatha smiled her enigmatic smile once more. "How, indeed. To tell you the truth we also don't know how it is possible but it simply is. Magic is a sentient form of energy that has been around since before the birth of the universe. Its will, reasoning and actions are beyond understanding for us, who are but byproducts of its barest thoughts. We cannot possibly understand something like that due our inherent limitations. It is like an ant trying to understand the size of the universe. Impossible in every way."

"So," Jean bit her lip as she tried to put her thoughts into words. "Every time a magician says an incantation, he or she is basically asking for permission to perform certain action?"

Agatha smiled in amusement. "Of course not. That would be silly. Do you know how many magicians there exists in this world alone? Magic would be bombarded by request by the millions and nothing would ever be done."

Jean looked frustrated. "Then why do they use spells?"

Agatha smiled. "Because magic is limitless. If one wanted to say, stop a robber from escaping and simply willed magic to stop him you could do anything from freezing him solid to killing him instantly. By using words you place limits to what your magic can do so you don't mistakenly do something other than what you wanted. It's why I believe in training them young. That way you can train them in the necessary mental strength to will magic to do a certain action alone without words being necessary."

The children nodded their understanding and Agatha continued. "Now that we have a basic understanding of magic is, can any of you tell me why the first thing taught to any aspiring magician is the mental aspects of magic such as telepathy?"

Jean hesitated before answering. "Because... we can gain the mental strength for bigger spells?"

Agatha clapped. "Exactly. The most important part of any magic-user is his mind. Anything else can be replaced but the mind is where magic is controlled and without control of yourself how can you gain control of your magic?"

Jean lowered her head in shame. "But I don't have any talent in magic. I'm a mutant that has the ability of telepathy and telekinesis, not a witch."

Agatha smiled softly. "While the origins are different, the effects are the same. Telepathy is an important aspect of magic since it encompasses astral battles, cloaking your mind and many other aspects. A powerful telepath can induce pain in their enemies simply by attacking them mentally. After all, a magician can't use spells if he's busy defending his mind, can he?"

Jean felt better at her words and turned when she felt Slade place a comforting hand on her shoulder. "There's nothing wrong with have a single focus, Jean. After all, my dad focuses on white magic and he's considered on of the most powerful magicians in the world. I have no doubt that you'll be one of the most powerful people in the world if you train."

Jean blushed at his words and she felt a fluttering in her stomach at his touch. She tried to ignore it but couldn't help the shy smile from crossing her face. Wanda watched them with a bit of envy and at the same time, a bit of hope. She hoped that she would become as close to them as they were to each other. It seemed nice to have someone to count on no matter what.

Agatha just smiled knowingly at the sight. 'It seems as if young Slade has himself two admirers already. I can't wait to see how this turns out. If nothing else, it will provide an endless source of amusement.' thought Agatha amusedly. She cleared her throat and continued.

"Indeed, young Jean. I'm told that you are also a telekinetic?" At Jean's shy nod, she continued. "And from what I'm told you have the potential to be a truly powerful one as well. Everyone tends to overlook telekinesis but I consider it one of the few branches to be worthy of specialization. Do you know why?"

Jean shook her head curiously.

Agatha smiled conspiratorially. "Telekinesis is the ability to move objects with your mind, correct? Well, with sufficient training and power, it should be possible to move anything from a building to something small like an atom. Now tell me, what happens when you vibrate many atoms at the same time?"

Jean frowned as she thought about it. "Well... I imagine that the object would destabilize, I guess. Or even explode."

Agatha nodded in confirmation. "Exactly. Now, what would happen if you vibrate the molecules of say... someone's arm?"

Jean and the others paled as she thought and Agatha gave them a grim look. "Exactly. Telekinesis is not something to be overlooked because a sufficiently trained and powerful telekinetic can be the most dangerous thing you can face. It's for this reason that I will teach you a telekinetic ability to keep other powerful telekinetic from doing just that to you. It's basically a small telekinetic shield that covers your body and will usually protect you from another telekinetic attack long enough for you to respond. The only exception is if the attacker is aware of its existence and puts enough power to simply overpower the shield. But first to explain each of yours specialty."

Agatha placed her cat down on the floor where it curled around her legs. "Now, Jean's specialty will obviously be the mental aspects of magic such as telepathy and telekinesis. Right now, your telekinesis is stronger than your telepathy due to it being a "physical" ability and therefore, easier for your mind to comprehend. It is also due to the barriers that Xavier placed to limit your telepathy. This was so you wouldn't be bombarded by the thoughts of others until you had sufficient control. He wanted to block it completely but luckily, Strange stopped such foolishness. You telepathy is a part of you and blocking it could limit your growth in that area greatly. I have no doubt that Xavier will train you in telepathy when you arrive so I will focus on teaching you some of the lesser known aspects of telekinesis such as using it to make you physically stronger and faster as well as manifesting weapons made of psionic energy."

Agatha turned to Slade. "You're specialty is obvious: energy manipulation. From what your father has told me you have a knack for manipulating magical energy in various inventive ways. He told me that you once created a solid pole of magical energy just to reach the cookie jar?"

Slade blushed at the memory while Jean giggled. He had been 10 at the time and had been extremely hungry. He couldn't wait for dinner and spontaneously decided to get a cookie to tide him over till then. He had originally wanted to conjure a long stick but somehow got a solid pole of white and purple energy. He still didn't know how he managed it and hadn't been able to replicate the feat but it had been awesome. Jean giggled because after creating it, he had dropped it in shock and it had landed on his foot. He had spent the next few minutes swearing and hopping on one foot while the pole dissipated in a small explosion of energy. The explosion of energy had attracted his father who had been gob smacked when Jean had told him what happened.

Agatha smirked. "It is something to proud of. Usually only the most learned and powerful magicians can create a weapon of solid magical energy and it takes a lot of concentration to maintain. I do wonder if perhaps you are a mutant with energy manipulation as your ability but we'll probably never know for sure due to it being hard to differentiate whether it's a mutant ability or simply due to your magical potential. Either way, I will teach you various ways to manipulate magical energy."

Agatha turned to Wanda. "Now, you, young one, are probably the most perplexing and interesting one of the lot. You showed me and Dr. Strange a demonstration of your magic and we came to a tentative conclusion."

Agatha took a deep breath before continuing. "Your magic is a mixture of what is known as "chaos magic" as well as the ability to warp reality. Now, technically chaos magic doesn't truly exist. Magic provides order and structure to the universe and the very idea of there being an aspect of magic that stems from chaos is laughable. No, chaos magic is nothing more or less than the ability to unravel the order and structure of magic inherent in every little thing to create a particular effect. A sort of anti-magic in a way with its own set of rules. This is where your ability to warp reality comes in. Your magic destabilizes the structure of magic allowing you to warp reality to your whims. This is very dangerous. Usually such power comes only after years of study and maturity as well as having the mental fortitude to control it. The fact you gained it so young leans toward it being due to a mutation much like young Jean. It is lucky you found us so young. If you hadn't started to learn control at a young age, this power could have eventually driven you insane."

Wanda had gone pale at the explanation and started to shake slightly in fear. Slade noticed and drew her into a hug while Jean looked on in pity. Slade looked at Agatha with a fierce look in his eyes. "What do you mean? How could it have driven her insane?"

Agatha frowned in thought. "You have to understand, young Slade. The ability to control reality is very dangerous. By controlling reality, reality in turn controls you. Imagination becomes the enemy as every little dream or thought you have can become reality of you don't have sufficient control. Imagine if you will, if someone she loved died. Her wish to see them alive could push her to resurrect them and therefore breaking the rules between life and death."

Jean spoke hesitantly. "Isn't that a good thing? I mean... if she could save someone from death."

Agatha's eyes flashed. "No! Never attempt such a thing. There is a reason why necromancers are considered the vilest of magicians. The dead should stay dead!" Agatha sighed and controlled herself. "You have to understand, young one, that there is a balance in the universe. Many things that seem cruel happen for a reason. By attempting to resurrect one person, you are bringing back a life whose time has passed and therefore added a pebble to the scales where it was empty before. On the delicate scale of balance that makes up the universe, this could have disastrous consequences. There must always be balance and the fabric of reality is very thin. Unravel it enough and the walls of the universe crumble around you."

Slade gulped at the thought and hugged Wanda tighter. "Well, it won't happen. Jean and I will help Wanda gain control and we'll be there to help her always. I'll be her anchor so she won't be lost in the waves of reality."

Agatha's eyes widened. "Do you understand what you're saying? You are taking responsibility of being Wanda's anchor and making sure she doesn't become lost to her powers. Once a bond like that is formed, nothing can break it. Not even death. Are you ready for such a responsibility?"

Wanda looked up at Slade with wide eyes. "You don't have to do that, Slade. You've done too much already."

Slade just glared at her. "What kind of friend would I be if I abandoned you right when things got tough? Me and Jean will be your anchors and we'll keep you firmly planted on the ground, I promise, right Jean?"

Jean nodded and smiled at Wanda before getting up and sitting on her other side. "Yep. I've never had a girlfriend before and I don't want to lose you now that I do." Jean spotted the goofy grin on Slade's face and blushed. "Not like that, you pervert! I mean girlfriend like a girl who's a friend!"

Slade's grin just widened. "Sorry but its way too late to stop that train now. I think I'm gonna have very pleasant dreams tonight."

Wanda and Jean blushed and refused to make eye contact with each other, much to Agatha and Slade's amusement.

Agatha cleared her throat to bring the attention back to her. "Jean and Wanda's sexual curiosity aside," Jean and Wanda's blushes deepened, "I hope you stay true to your oath. Anyway, despite your specialties, I will be teaching you various other things as well such as fighting in astral form and for Jean, paralyzing someone through telepathy. As for Wanda and Slade, I want you two to spend the rest of today thinking about what magic you wish to create to be your calling card so to speak. You may have a primary and a secondary magic and explain what effects you want each to have and why."

Jean raised her hand with a confused look on her face. "What about me? What will I do?"

Agatha raised an eyebrow. "I will be teaching you how to use your telekinesis in battle in ways Xavier would never imagine. He is a telepath and telepathy and telekinesis are related but there are some things one can do that the other cannot as well as things that can only be possible by combining both. For example..."

Agatha raised her right hand as if she was holding something and blue energy coalesced within her hand. Slowly, a dagger made of blue energy formed in her hand. She threw it so fast that her hand seemed a blur and it was impaled against the far wall. The dagger stayed there for a few seconds before dissolving in blue wisps.

Agatha smiled at their gob smacked expressions. "...that was a psionic dagger and can harm a target both physically and mentally if one is mastered enough in telepathy and telekinesis to use both at once. That was a mixture of two different yet related skills: psionic blasts and telekinetic weapons. A psionic blast attacks the mind and can induce unconsciousness or even kill if enough energy is used. Meanwhile, a telekinetic weapon is a physical manifestation of telekinetic power that at its lowest intensity can disrupts neural pathways and sever molecular bonds while at its highest it can cut through armor and defensive spells yet leave the target physically unharmed. Combining the two allows one to cut through any defenses the target has and attack their mind on two fronts, physically and mentally. Even the strongest of telepaths would succumb under a strong enough psionic weapon."

Jean looked at Agatha in amazement. She had never imagined something like that even being possible and it would be perfect if she could learn how to manifest psionic Sais. It would mix her physical skills with her mental ones.

Agatha smiled at her wide-eyed amazement and turned to Wanda. "Now, Wanda. For you, learning a new type of magic is very important. Your skill with chaos magic and probability manipulation is very powerful and in time you could surpass even Dr. Strange and myself. However, it comes with the price of you constantly having to fight to maintain your sanity. Therefore, we will make you learn other magics so you can use your chaos magic only as a last resort. Therefore, I will teach you how to conjure mystic bolts and intangibility so you have an offense and a defense to use in battle. I want you to create another type of magic as well so you have your own original magic as your primary."

Wanda smiled slightly and nodded causing Agatha to smile softly as well. "Well, now that you have your goals set, I will start with a brief overview of famous magicians starting with the oldest known to recent times. I will list their area of expertise, their contributions and the time in which they grew so you have an idea of how the times shaped them into who they would become..."

Slade sighed as laid down on his bed with Jean and Wanda sitting on the floor near the foot of his bed. It was a little after 7pm and they had just finished dinner. Agatha had gone from 4pm to 6:30pm talking about dozens of famous magicians and what made them famous. While it may have sounded boring, it had actually been quite fascinating.

The oldest known magician was Agamotto himself, who was currently a member of the Vishanti. He was the first recorded magician as well as the first Sorcerer Supreme. His power lies in knowledge and is considered to have almost total omniscience in most matters. The Sorcerer Supremes of recent times are really nothing more than vessels through which Agamotto can channel his power in order to defend his reality. This is why sorcerers named Sorcerer Supreme seem to instantly have a jump in power and ability the moment they are named. Agamotto channels his knowledge and power through the Sorcerer Supreme in order to help him defend his reality.

Soon after was the precognitive Zhered-Na. She was an Atlantean sorceress that foretold the destruction of Atlantis at the hands of King Kamuu himself. She was threatened to take back her predictions but refused and so was exiled. She went on to found her own sect who, after her death at the hands of a mob that thought her responsible for the destruction of Atlantis, went on to protect her tome to this day.

There were many other sorcerers after her, too many to mention all but there was one that caught Slade's attention, much to Agatha's amusement.

Myraddin of Ruta, or better known as Merlin.

He was born on a fragment of Atlantis that hadn't sunk with the rest named Ruta, therefore giving him his surname 'of Ruta'. His long list of impressive acts begin with bartering his copy of the Ironbound Book of Skelos for the Starstone to make the infamous Ebony Blade, creating magical gemstones, imprisoning Chthon in Wundagore (when Agatha explained who Chthon was, Wanda shivered for some reason and got a far-away look in her eye but Slade dismissed it as simply fear) and banishing Tyrannus to Subterranea. Merlin also animated a suit of armor as the first Black Knight before Sir Percy of Scandia became the first human Black Knight. The fact that the animated suit of armor went undetected as a simple automaton to the point that non-magicals still think it was Percy from the very beginning shows the complexity and power behind that spell. Animating a suit of armor is one thing but making it pass of as a human that has tics and mannerisms is something else.

However, what truly set Merlin apart was his sheer skill with time manipulation and travel. He was born in the 6th century yet sources say he lived well into the time of the founders of Hogwarts in the 10th century. This leads to a lot of confusion as to the dates of his birth and death. Hogwarts has written proof that Merlin attended as a student during the time Salazar Slytherin was still in the school. However, there is also conclusive proof that Merlin must be have been born before the 6th century which was the time of King Arthur and the Round Table.

Agatha hypothesized that Merlin was born in the 5th century but realized that he would not get the training he needed during that time, which was at an all-time low in magical non-Celtic knowledge. Therefore, he traveled into the future during the time right after Hogwarts was formed but before Salazar left. This is considered by many the golden age of the wizards due to the presence of four of the greatest wizards of the age in one place, each being a master in different branches of wand-magic. Once he graduated and learned all he could, he returned to his time where he guided Arthur to become king and did all his famous accomplishments. His acts directly led to the explosion of magical knowledge which eventually led the founders to creating Hogwarts and therefore completing the time loop by causing the creation of the very place he originally learned magic.

Agatha went on to explain that Merlin probably placed an enchantment to prevent wizards from realizing he was the Merlin while he was studying in Hogwarts. This led to the confusion of dates as to when Camelot existed among non-magicals. It was actually quite ingenious and smart since Merlin was himself the ancestor of Slytherin himself which is probably why he was sorted into Slytherin during his time in Hogwarts. He also created the branch of magicians known as wizards by being the first known user of a wand, which ironically he got when he visited the future and took with him back to the past. In fact, the wood of his wand was made out of the tree that grew where his supposed grave was located.

Agatha used this in order to not only point out Merlin's power but to drive home one important fact before we even thought of messing with time manipulation. That the past cannot be changed no matter what one does and the very act of going back to change it may in fact cause it to happen. Many foolish magicians had tried to go to the past to save a loved one only to find out that their interference caused it to happen in the first place.

Slade took the lesson to heart and promised to never try and mess with the past, lest he make the present worse.

Jean sighed in exasperation. "Well, I know what I'm learning from now on, though it's difficult as hell. Agatha told me that I first have to master the separate skills before I can learn how to create a psionic weapon. First is the psionic bolts which is basically attacking a person's mind. The differences is that I'm doing it remotely and not connecting our minds. How am I supposed to do that?"

Wanda seemed just as stumped until Slade hesitantly spoke. "Maybe you're going around it the wrong way. Instead of trying to think of the mechanics behind it, just imagine it like a missile. You send a missile of mental energy at the enemy that attacks their mind. Simplify it."

Jean looked thoughtful before nodding her head slowly. "That might work. I'll try it tomorrow in our next session with Agatha." She turned to Wanda. "How about you? Have any luck thinking of what kind of magic you want to create?"

Wanda frowned before shaking her head sadly. "I have no idea. I'm still overwhelmed with all this. Just this morning I was lost in a strange city and about to be raped and now I was saved and brought to live with people who understand me and can help me learn how to use my abilities."

Slade smiled softly down at her as he laid on his bed. "We know how you feel. Both I and Jean felt the same when we met my dad the first time as well. It can be a bit overwhelming but at least it's a good kind of overwhelming. You'll get used to it."

Wanda nodded her head doubtfully. "If you say so. Anyway, the only things I can think of are maybe some kind of magic to make chains or..."

Jean looked at Wanda in confusion as she trailed off. "Or what?"

Wanda bit her lip before taking out a thin book that she had been hiding within a larger one. "Well, I found this book in the library and thought it was interesting. I didn't show it to you guys since it's a fiction book and I felt embarrassed. Anyway, the book is a fictional story on the Japanese deities and the areas they rule over as well as each ones special characteristics. I was reading about Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun, and it says she had two types of flames, the black flames that burn everything it touches for seven days and seven nights and the white flames that burn only those she allows it too to or those that are pure in soul. I'm thinking of maybe recreating a magical style revolving around those two flames. It would be kinda cool."

Slade and Jean smirked before the former spoke. "I think it's awesome, actually and I think Amaterasu would be honored if you created a magical style in her honor."

Wanda giggled. "You make it seem as if Amaterasu is real." Hearing their silence and seeing their smirks, Wanda's smile slowly disappeared. "She isn't real...right?"

Slade just continued to smirk. "Wanda... there are no fiction books in the library. They're all non-fiction."

Wanda paled at the implications and she stared at her book in a whole new light. "You mean... the Japanese gods exist?!"

Slade nodded. "Yea, my dad told me about them. All the gods exist actually. The Greek/Roman ones, the Asgardian, the Chinese..."

Wanda grew paler with each mentioned deity before gulping audibly. "But... I mean... some of them didn't seem so... nice if you understand what I mean. Heck, some of them sounded downright evil. If they exist why haven't they been causing the stuff they used to cause? You know, like tsunamis to attack their unbelievers and all that? Plus some of them are supposed to be gods of the same thing. Like Zeus and Raiden both being the gods of lightning."

Jean shrugged. "Dr. Strange says they haven't interacted with the world in centuries for some reason they wouldn't say. As for their realm of influence, it really depends on your belief system. If you're Celtic then you'll follow their gods, if you're Japanese then those. For example, the Roman/Greek deity of death, Pluto, can only take the souls of those that believe in the Roman/Greek gods."

As Wanda and Jean continued to talk about deities and how they're important to sorcerers, Slade tried to think about what his primary magic should be.

He wanted it to be useful both as an offense and a defense as well as possibly being bale to capture enemies if necessary. Wanda already had a semi-elemental magical style and it could be used for both if mastered to a sufficient degree. But he also wanted it to be unique and perhaps cause blunt force trauma instead of just elemental damage like Wanda's.

Slade rubbed his chin in exasperation, right above his pen-

Slade sat up so quick that the girls jumped slightly in shock. Jean was the first to speak. "Slade? You okay? You have a strange grin on your face."

Slade just continued to smile. "Yep, I've just decided on what I want my magic to be."

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><p><strong>AN: And there's chapter 3 done.<strong>


	5. Chapter 4: A Good Day Gone Worse

Chapter 4: A Good Day Gone Worse

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

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><p><strong>Sanctum Sanctorum, Greenwich Village<strong>

Slade deflected a mystic bolt from Wanda to the side only to have to throw up a shield to avoid being tagged by a telekinetic bolt from Jean. He returned fire by sending two streams of red-hot fire at both girls, causing them to erect their own types of barriers. Wanda went a step further by angling her shield so the fire was deflected off it and towards Jean, causing the latter to expend more energy on her shield so it wouldn't buckle under the unexpected angle of attack.

It had been five months since Wanda joined the group and things had been progressing well for everyone. Jean had been kind enough to telepathically give Wanda all the knowledge she needed to test into their 9th grade class. It had been pretty late for a new student, being late September and all, but after quite a bit of money exchanged hands the school board allowed it as long as she turned in all the assignments that had been given up to that moment. While not a genius like Slade or having telepathy like Jean, Wanda was pretty smart on her own and was keeping up with the schoolwork easily.

Everyone thought the group of three friends were weird since they were basically from different 'clicks' in school. Slade was a smart slacker (contradicting but who said teenagers were logical?), Wanda was a Goth due to her dark clothing and use of dark eyeliner, and Jean was the popular girl. Neither of the three cared what anyone thought and continued to spend time together both during and outside of school.

The three had become extremely close due to both the large amount of time they spent together and their common interests in training with their respective abilities. Slade spent a lot of time helping Wanda learn the basics and was glad to see he had picked it up quickly. Wanda insisted it was due to his teaching ability but he doubted it. The first few weeks at school, Slade had attempted to make Wanda enlarge her circle of friends to beyond him and Jean but she remained stubborn and refused to. She studiously ignored all the boys who asked her out on a date and when Slade asked why, she said she wasn't interested in any of them. Slade hadn't caught what Wanda was subtly saying and shrugged it off. Jean had also been more demanding of his attention, saying she would be leaving at the end of the school year and wanted to make most of the time with her most precious person.

Sometimes Slade swore the girls seemed to be competing for his attention but chalked it up to his imagination. Yes, despite being a genius in academics Slade was a normal oblivious teenager when it came to his two best friends' affections.

Slade created a force shield around his left hand so that it seemed like medieval shield and used it to block Jean's characteristic 'double-push' as she called it. It was actually quite ingenious. Since she had no talent in most branches of sorcery outside of the mental arts, she learned how to 'capture' their mystic bolts in a sort of telekinetic bubble, convert it to telekinetic power and send it back at one of them with double the power at half the cost. It was moments like these that showed Slade just how devious Jean could be when she wanted to be.

Slade winced at the force of the hit but used the opening to send his patented purple flare beam at Jean, forcing her to dodge it and therefore disqualifying her from the spar. Slade's created magic was quite ingenious if he did say so himself. In terms of appearance, it looked like a mix of fire and lightning that was purple in color. However, it could burn like fire, paralyze like lightning or even become solid enough to act like magical restraints. Personally, he wished it would be gold but accepted that some things were beyond his control. At least it wasn't pink.

"Jean, out! You know the rules. Use any and all techniques to deflect, shield or survive your opponents' attacks but you cannot dodge," yelled out Agatha from the sidelines. Beside her was an amused Dr. Strange and Raiza, who were watching the spar with interest.

Slade smirked as he continued to shield against Wanda's furious barrage of elemental attacks. Unlike Slade, Wanda had made less headway in creating her style for the simple fact that it involved an aspect of soul magic. That was ridiculously advanced and it would take her years before she was ready to integrate that aspect of magic into her style. Meanwhile, she was learning how to manipulate the elements, especially fire, so when she was ready to create her magical style it would be that much easier. Luckily, she seemed to have an affinity for elemental magic and it came to her easily.

Slade cursed as he was forced to deflect or shield against various water, wind and earth attacks. Unlike Wanda, he only had an affinity for fire, lightning and wind while he could barely manipulate water or earth. Therefore, he couldn't absorb or manipulate those elemental attacks like Wanda could his fire, lightning and wind attacks. His only hope to defeat her was by simply overpowering her or using his Void flare, which was unique to him and she couldn't quite manipulate. He couldn't overpower her due to the ward around the sparring arena that places an upper limit on the magic each attack can contain. It was so they didn't accidently send lethal attacks at each other. Despite the lethality the attacks appeared to be, the most they would do if they landed was because a strong stinging sensation in the area affected. The idea was to force them to rely on wits and skill to win rather than just sheer power.

When it comes to magic, the epitaph 'Knowledge is power' is a literal meaning. The sorcerer could be far more powerful than his opponent but it would mean nothing if he had no knowledge of the magic his opponent was using. In those occasions, the sorcerer had to dodge his enemies' attacks or put up a shield and hope to be able to weather it. Since they couldn't dodge, both apprentice magicians had to rely on the latter when faced against unknown magic.

Slade and Wanda continued to trade spells at each other for a few minutes before Slade caught an opening when she let loose a stream of water. Slade smirked before turning his magical shield into a lightning shield, making the lightning travel along the stream of water and shocking Wanda.

"Wanda, out! Slade is the winner of this spar," announced Agatha in an amused voice. She was amused because being shocked by Slade's lightning had caused Wanda to lose control of the water, causing her to get wet from her own water attack. This, in turn, caused her white shirt to become see-through and Slade was shamelessly ogling her while Jean fell down laughing. Wanda turned bright red when she realized what had happened and covered her chest before playfully glaring at Slade.

"Pervert."

Everyone laughed as Slade fruitlessly tried to deny it. Wanda giggled before casting a spell to dry her shirt, much to Slade's barely-hidden disappointment. The three friends walked over to their three instructors for their judgment on their performance.

Agatha smiled down at her students. "Well done, students. Well done indeed. I doubt there are any other magical students out there capable of doing half the things you three are at the moment. I trust you now see the importance of knowledge going hand in hand with power?"

Slade sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and nodded at her pointed comment. Yesterday, Slade had made a comment about knowing every type of magic and its mechanics being useless if you could simply overpower your opponent. Agatha had overheard him and smiled evilly before arranging today's spar. The point of creating a field that limited the amount of magic you could place in your spells (other than the obvious) was to teach them both how to think strategically and to stimulate a situation where your opponent is just as strong as you. In the latter situations, overpowering spells only makes it so you tire faster while your opponent only needs to dodge or block your spells. In that situation, the former skill was necessary in order to secure victory. Agatha had assured them that while powerful, there were many out there just as powerful as they could grow to be so they couldn't rely on brute force alone.

Dr. Strange nodded his agreement. "Yes. Though I am one of the most powerful sorcerers in the world, I am not THE most powerful. There is also no point in wasting power on every single enemy or else I would be caught off-guard if another enemy attacked soon afterward. Remember Slade, as sorcerers it is our job to protect the Earth from all forms of mystical attack, both from without and from within. We follow the lead of the Sorcerer Supreme because while Master is powerful, he cannot be everywhere at once. Master predicted that New York would become a nexus of mystical attacks in the future and as the ones on call, so to speak, we have to remain ever vigilant."

Slade nodded seriously to show he understood. His father smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Still, you did very well and I'm very proud. You are advancing quite quickly for you age and within two or three years you'll be ready to build your own magical item."

Slade smiled happily as Jean and Wanda looked at him with pride. The creation of his own magical item is a sorcerer's 'coming of age' ritual which marks that the sorcerer's apprentice is ready for the title of sorcerer. Dr. Strange had made both his Cloak of Levitation and his Sash for his own proof of readiness. However, Slade had been thinking of creating something much different that hadn't been done in centuries.

He was thinking of something that represented his six parents. He was still working on what weapons to use, but one he confirmed was a staff.

Ever since Raiza had started to teach him how to use a quarterstaff as a base before teaching him how to use a blade, he had interested in a sorcerer's staff. It had been abandoned by sorcerers in recent times due to it been a little hard to carry quickly into battle as well as some sorcerers being too dependent on it. While Slade understood the reasoning, he wanted a staff for two reasons: to help him channel his power for powerful rituals and incantations and to hide his future blades.

Slade read a lot of manga and his favorite was Bleach. He loved the way the Captain-Commander hid his blade within his staff and could change it between forms at will. Slade had a similar plan for his staff to be able to change from staff to blade form at will. However, Slade doubted anyone on Earth had the skill to do something like that so he had been researching every known magical smith or weapon-maker in other dimensions to see who had the skill. He had narrowed it down to two and already had an idea for the materials necessary for his staff/blade.

Slade smiled at his father's words. "Thanks, Dad. I won't let you down."

Strange just smiled. "You never have, Slade. By the way, I'll be going on a short trip to settle some problems on the west coast. It seems have been experimenting in things they shouldn't and I'm going to have to teach them the error of their ways."

Slade nodded his understanding. "How long will you be gone and when are you leaving?"

Strange shrugged slightly. "I'll probably be gone for about four days so I'm leaving right now. Sooner I settle it, the sooner I'll be back. I expect you to listen to Wong and your teachers in my absence."

Agatha smirked. "Finally trust us enough to order your son around in your absence?"

Strange smirked right back. "More like I realized you care for him almost as much as I do and would sooner cut off your arm than hurt him."

Everyone chuckled as Agatha grumbled under her breath. Strange turned to his adoptive son. "Well, son. I'll be going. See you in a couple of days."

Slade nodded. "See you dad."

With a final smile, Dr. Strange summoned his 'work clothes' as he calls them and goes through a portal to the west coast.

Agatha politely coughed to break Slade out his thoughts. "Well, now that the physical stuff is done for the day we can return to my lessons. Today we will be delving into the Great Branches of Advanced Magic and who and why they were identified as well as what separates them from regular, everyday magic."

The children groaned as the two adults chuckled.

Slade sighed as he walked into the library with Jean. They had finally been dismissed from Agatha's lesson a few minutes ago and were going to the library to write their homework for school as well as research the material they were just taught. Wanda had stayed behind with Agatha for her Occlumency training which would help her resist the need to use her chaos magic. After assuring them they could start without her, Slade and Jean had left to begin their work. Raiza had left soon after his father had and promised to come back tomorrow evening for training.

Slade and Jean went to the center of the library which was free of tables and chairs and sat cross-legged across from each other. Slade unconsciously began to hover in the air as he had seen his father do hundreds of times before as he levitated the required books to levitate with their pages open in front of him. Jean looked on enviously at his casual mastery of telekinesis which she was still having trouble with.

They worked in silence for a few minutes until they finished their schoolwork and moved on to study the tomes of magic to better understand the Great Branches. Slade took out a black journal that was charmed to have an infinite number of pages and started to make notes. After realizing that remembering every single thing he had ever read didn't help him make connections between different subjects, Slade had decided to make his own journal. In it, he would write his opinions about each branch as well as little anecdotes about each new spell's effects and mechanics. He would write adjustments to each spell he knew as well as why he made the adjustment. He had a separate red journal where he wrote the finished versions of every spell he created to be his own grimoire.

He had been writing his own insights into the five Miracles when he sensed Jean's frustration. He looked up to see her with a focused expression as she hovered across from him. She tried to levitate a particularly heavy tome about the Miracle of Creation so she could read while writing down her own notes in her green journal only for her to lose concentration and fall on her butt.

Slade couldn't stop himself from chuckling at the sight and Jean glared up at him before huffing. "How can you do that so easily? I always lose concentration when I try to do it and I'm the natural born telekinetic! I can barely lift my own weight most of the time and you better not make any comments about my weight."

Biting his tongue to keep from doing just that, Slade smiled. "So you're saying is that you concentrate hard on keeping yourself in the air and therefore lose it when you try to do more than one thing at a time?"

Jean nodded in frustration. "Yes!"

Slade smiled softly and remembered when he complained of the same thing to his father and how he explained it. Slade couldn't help but think how beautiful Jean looked when she was angry and her hair seemed more like flames than normal red hair. For this reason, he decided on a different approach to teaching her the problem.

Feigning a curious look, Slade hovered back down until he was standing across from Jean. "Do you know how to dance?"

Jean looked confused. "What?"

"Dance. Like ballroom dance. Can you?"

Jean shook her head hesitantly. "Um...no. I've never gotten around to learning."

Slade smiled in reassurance. "Well, Wong insisted on me learning since I always accompany Dad to those fancy dinner parties and I should at least know in case I want to dance. I'll teach you."

Jean blushed as Slade stood in front of her and placed her right hand on his shoulder, grabbed her left hand in his right and placed his left on her waist. "B-But... What does that have to do with learning how to master my telekinesis?" Jean looked down her kinda dirty jeans and green shirt and at Slade's black jeans and red shirt. "Plus, we're not exactly dressed for it."

Slade just smiled softly, causing Jean's blush to deepen. "Trust me, Jean. Plus, I think you look beautiful as you are." Jean was now blushing so much that her face resembled her hair. "Now follow my lead. 1, 2, 3. 1, 2, 3."

For the next few minutes, Slade slowly taught Jean how to ballroom dance. At first, she was kinda clumsy and stepped on Slade's toes but he made no comment and just gently corrected her. Eventually, Jean got the hang of it (in no small part because she thought it was romantic) and they were dancing around the free area of the library.

Once he saw that Jean had mastered it, Slade put his plan into action. "Now, to truly master ballroom dancing you have to be able to do it with your eyes closed. I'll put on some music, so close your eyes and follow the flow of the music."

Such was Jean's trust in Slade that she didn't question him and just closed her eyes once Slade had put on the music on an old sonograph. It was an old song that was perfect for ballroom dancing and Jean had to admit that she liked it. Slade returned to Jean and they started to dance once more.

After a few seconds of hesitance, Jean gave herself into the music and let Slade lead her through the flow of the song. Once he was sure she was distracted, Slade discreetly levitated a few instruments form their displays and made them work as orchestra to the song. The instruments floated in the air in the outer edges of the library as they continued to dance.

Once all the instruments had been animated, Slade started to discreetly make them float. Jean noticed nothing as they continued to dance in the air with her eyes closed. Slade could only smile at the happy smile on Jean's face and he felt something warm in his chest as he continued to dance with her. Slowly, ever so slowly, Slade started to pull back his power keeping them up and as he suspected, Jean's power started to subconsciously keep them up. Eventually, the only thing keeping them dancing in the air was Jean's power alone.

Smiling in victory, Slade drew her in close and whispered in her ear even as they continued to dance. "Now, Jean. Don't panic and open your eyes."

Jean was confused but opened her eyes and realized that they were up in the air. She quickly hanged on to Slade as if he was a lifeline even as her power continued to keep them aloft. "Slade! Why didn't you tell me you were going to make us dance in mid-air?! Put us down!"

Slade chuckled. "I'm not the one keeping us on the air, Jean. You are."

Jean was completely confused but closed her eyes and gasped when she realized he was right. She looked up at Slade in wonder. "But...how?"

Slade smiled as he made her continue to dance in mid-air with him. Jean hesitantly followed his lead. "The problem isn't that you don't have the power, Jean. It's that you concentrate too hard on it. It's as simple as breathing but you think it should be hard and therefore, you make it difficult. It's all in your mind. See? You did this all your own the moment you stopped trying so hard."

Jean smiled softly as they continued to dance in the air to the music. Despite their clothing being dirty and them smelling slightly of sweat, Jean thought there was nothing as romantic as dancing in mid-air with her secret crush as he used magic to create the music.

Jean smiled up at Slade who was looking at her with a soft smile and her breath caught. He was looking at her with such affection and care that she was momentarily speechless. Slowly, the two unconsciously started to lean toward each other and their eyes slowly started to close.

Jean's heart beat faster as she realized they were about to share their first kiss and she slowly closed her eyes as she leaned up to kiss him.

Just as they were an inch away from kissing, the sonograph emitted a loud screeching sound that made them cover their ears as it seemed to have broken and was scratching the disc. Slade quickly floated down and stopped it even as the instruments stopped as well and Jean was left cursing the sonograph for its poor timing.

Suddenly, the door to the hallway opened and Wanda walked in. She looked from Slade standing next to the sonograph to the instruments to the still floating Jean with an innocent expression. "Agatha and I finished our lesson and she left to go home saying tomorrow was a free day. So, what were you two doing?"

Jean's eyes narrowed in suspicion at the slight accusation in her tone. Jean looked from the sonograph to the door and realized that there was a perfect line of sight from the door to both where sonograph was as well as to where Slade and her had been dancing. All you had to do was open the door a crack. Slowly, a suspicion formed in Jean's mind that the sonograph breaking at that very moment hadn't been a coincidence.

Oblivious to Jean's thoughts, Slade just smiled at Wanda. "I was just helping Jean master how to float telekinetically by teaching her how to ballroom dance at the same time."

Wanda smiled at his explanation, although Jean couldn't help but think that it looked a little forced. "Really? Then maybe you can teach me too? I still haven't gotten the hang of it and I don't know how to ballroom dance either."

Jean's eyes narrowed as she floated down to the ground and could only look on jealously as the oblivious Slade agreed. Slade cast a Repair charm on the sonograph, fixing it to pristine condition and turned to Jean.

"You don't mind, right?"

Jean forced a smile even as she swallowed her jealousy. "Nope. Go right ahead. I'll just keep researching and make sure the sonograph doesn't break again. You never know if it'll break down again."

Jean looked at Wanda as she said this and she saw a flicker of guilt cross Wanda's eyes. However, Wanda then turned to Slade and Slade started to teach Wanda the same way he taught Jean. Jean pretended to be reading a tome but was really watching the two closely over the top of it. Her sharp eyes noticed how Wanda was standing just a little closer than strictly necessary and how she was curling her finger around a stray lock of Slade's hair near his shoulder.

Jean continued to look on jealously as they started to dance in mid-air in what she had already considered to be her and Slade's special way. A snide voice in her head remarked that Wanda seemed to be a good dancer despite her supposedly not knowing how to dance. She completely ignored the fact that she had learned just as quickly as Wanda was.

Jean's jealousy spiked when Wanda laid her head on Slade's shoulder and she unconsciously ripped the page she was supposedly reading. The sound got Slade and Wanda's attention and they turned to her in confusion.

Jean put on a sheepish expression and showed them the ripped page. "Sorry. I guess I got a little overzealous in turning the page. Can you fix it for me, Slade?"

Slade smiled and rolled her eyes. "Always so eager to learn, right Jean? We're done anyway, Wanda learned quite quickly. She's a natural."

Wanda blushed at the compliment and they slowly levitated back to the ground. Slade walked over to Jean and repaired the page with a wave of his hand. Wanda hesitantly walked over and tried to ignore Jean's accusing eyes. The three apprentice magicians now easily levitated cross-legged in the air as they floated tomes between them and continued to make notes of what they read.

It was few hours later, once night had fallen, that Slade had yawned and said he was going to sleep, leaving for his room. That had left Wanda and Jean in a tense silence as both were unwilling to speak about what had happened. Finally, it was Jean who broke the silence while not looking up at Wanda.

"Weird how the sonograph broke right before you arrived, right Wanda?"

Wanda stiffened slightly and continued to write, refusing to make eye contact. "Yeah. It's a bit of a coincidence."

Jean stiffened slightly in anger but continued to speak in a calm tone even as she looked up at Wanda with blazing eyes. "Yeah... coincidence. We were really getting into it too. Maybe God was trying to tell us something?"

Wanda continued to stubbornly look at the tome, refusing to meet Jean's eyes. "Yeah... maybe."

Finally, Jean had enough to slam her book closed before standing over the no longer hovering Wanda who had looked up in surprise at Jean. "Don't play innocent, Wanda! I know it was you! I find it too much of a coincidence that it broke just as Slade and I were about to kiss and you just happened to walk in afterwards."

Wanda stood up and glared right back at her. "And it's such a coincidence that you ripped a page just when placed my head on Slade's shoulder? Don't be a hypocrite!"

Jean gritted her teeth and glared harder. Unknown to both girls, their eyes were taking on a slight yellowish tint. "You're the one who started it! Slade and I would have kissed and been together by now if you hadn't interfered!"

Wanda scoffed. "Please! You've known him for how long? And you've still to make a move on him. Face it, Jean. You don't have the guts to do anything about your feelings but don't get angry if some of us do!"

Jean sneered even as her eyes got even more yellow in color and the voice whispering in the back of her head grew in volume. "You've only known him for five months! Your feelings are nothing compared to mine! I have more right to him than you do!"

Wanda's eyes were almost completely yellow and her own inner voice was whispering things to her as well. Telling her how Jean was never her friend and that Slade would never choose her over Jean so she was better off alone. "I have as much a right to try than you do!"

The voice in Jean's head was telling her to get rid of the opposition and then it'd be her and Slade alone again. Before Wanda appeared, things were fine! They didn't need her! "I wish we had left you to be raped all those months ago!"

Suddenly, the voices in both girls' heads disappeared leaving them alone with Jean's last statement. Wanda was wide-eyed and tears were leaving her eyes as her bottom lip trembled while Jean was shocked at her words. Jean instinctively knew she had gone too far.

"No, I didn't mean that. I'm so-"

But Wanda cut her off. "Leave me alone!"

Wanda ran out of the library in tears, leaving a shocked Jean to fall to her knees in shock at her words. How could she have said that? Wanda was one of her closest friends and even if they were competing over Slade, she would never had said that. But she had been so jealous and angry at her interference that she couldn't even think straight. That plus a voice in her head telling her that she would already be with Slade if Wanda hadn't shown up had pushed her over the edge and made her say something she would normally wouldn't have.

Jean could only fall to her knees and cry in her hands at her stupidity.

Meanwhile, Wanda was crying as she hastily packed a suitcase full of her clothes and other necessities. If they didn't want her here then that was fine! She didn't need them! She had been just fine on her own!

Wanda finished throwing everything she could into the suitcase, she grunted as she picked it up and started to drag it out of her room. Wanda walked as quietly as possible down the hallway and past Wong's room where she could hear his soft snoring. She then walked further down the hallway before stopping in front of Slade's room.

A part of her wanted to say goodbye knowing he would try to stop her. That same part was telling her that Slade cared about her and that Jean hadn't been herself last night so she probably didn't mean what she said. However, a larger part of her was whispering that Slade had always favored Jean over her and if he was forced to choose sides, he would choose Jean every time. Unfortunately, Wanda listened to the latter part and quietly walked down the hallway and down the stairs before walking out the front door.

The door to Slade's room opened soon after the front door closed and a sleepy Slade looked down both side of the hallway and saw the light in the library on. He only had a pair of gray sweatpants on but sighed as he realized that the girls must still be up. "I thought they would be asleep by now, it's almost midnight. Better make them go to bed or else they'll be impossible tomorrow morning."

Yawning, Slade blearily walked toward the library and opened the door. Slade was suddenly wide awake when he saw Jean on her knees crying on the floor, her eyes red from how much she had been crying. Slade instantly looked around to assess any threats before walking over to Jean and kneeling beside her.

"Hey...Jean? What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Jean looked up at Slade with tears in her eyes before crying loudly and hugging him with her head on his chest. Slade was confused and just softly rubbed her head as she cried into his chest. "What's wrong, Jean? Where's Wanda?"

Jean crying got worse before she started to stutter her response. "I-It's a-all my f-fault. I didn't mean it! It just came out! I would never say that but I was Sooo angry and it just blurted out. I'm sorry, Wanda! I'm sorry!"

Slade only became more confused. "What did you say?"

Jean cringed as he imagined what Slade's reaction would be. "I-I... I said that we should have left her to be raped all those months ago."

Slade instantly stiffened and grabbed Jean, making her look up at his furious eyes. "WHAT!? How could you say that, Jean?! She's your friend and even if she wasn't, how could you wish that on anyone?!"

Jean cried harder and tried to explain herself. "I didn't mean it! It just came out! I would NEVER say something like that, even if I was furious! It was like there was a voice in my head getting me more and more angry and I..." Jean just broke down crying as she couldn't go on.

Slade had stiffened at her explanation. A voice in her head? He knew that sometimes people would have feelings telling them to say or do something but a voice? That's not normal unless...

Slade grabbed Jean and made her stop crying for a second before speaking. "Jean, this is important. Are you sure you heard a voice in your head? It wasn't a feeling or something like that?"

Jean looked confused before shaking her head slowly. "No... It was like... A whisper... telling me she was in the way and it would be better off if she was gone. Almost as if..."

"... It wanted her to leave," finished Slade. Both teens looked at each other before racing toward Wanda's room. They slammed through the door, hoping to see Wanda but only confirmed their fears. The room was empty of clothing and when Slade checked, her suitcase was missing.

Slade looked around frantically before calming down and taking a deep breath. "Okay, she's gone. Obviously, someone knew my dad was going to be out of the house and took advantage of it to get Wanda out. The question is why."

Jean looked frantic. "Does it matter?! Wanda's missing! We need to go find her!"

Slade nodded and cast a locator spell. It was a basic one that only showed the general direction of what they were searching for but it would have to do. A ghostly arrow pointed out the front door. "She's left the house and seems to be going down the street. She's still close so we can get her ourselves." Jean nodded her understanding and Slade quickly ran into his room to put on his shoes and a blue shirt before he and Jean raced out the door after their friend.

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><p>Back with Wanda, she had been dragging her suitcase down the street for a while, all the time crying. She was crying so much that she didn't notice how the shadows seemed to be getting thicker around her and how their seemed to be a suspicious lack of people around even though this was the city that never slept. Suddenly it started raining and Wanda shoulders drooped.<p>

"This is the perfect ending to the worst day of my life." Wanda sighed and dragged her suitcase under an overhead ceiling that was jutting out of a nearby building. Wanda sat down and held herself as she shivered due to the cold. Behind her, the shadows started to solidify until the wall behind her turned into a dark portal.

"Wanda!"

Wanda turned to the yell and saw Slade and Jean running to her. Her heart rose as she realized her friends had come looking for her and a smile came to her face. Despite Jean's words and her own thoughts, they were her friends and the fact that it hadn't been half an hour before they realized she was gone showed her they cared.

Slade was running toward Wanda when he saw the portal form behind an oblivious Wanda and tried to warn her. "Wanda! Behind you!"

Wanda was confused until black tentacles came out of the portal and wrapped themselves around her. "What! What's happening?! Slade! Help!"

Slade tried to run faster but was forced to watch as one of his best friends was dragged into the black portal even as Wanda kicked and screamed, trying to get free. Slade and Jean sent lightning and telekinetic blast respectively into the portal as they ran only to get no reaction as it continued to drag a screaming Wanda inside.

Only Wanda's head was outside the portal and she turned to Slade with tears in her eyes. "Slade, help!"

Slade jumped at the portal but it dragged Wanda in and closed before Slade could touch it. "No! Wanda! No, no, no!" Slade fruitlessly punched the wall where the portal was only to get his knuckles bruised and no reaction from the now portal-less wall. Jean was looking around trying to get some clue as to Wanda's kidnappers only to see an empty street and Wanda's suitcase where there friend once was.

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><p>Wanda screamed as she fell through the portal and landed some kind of stone chamber with torches with green flames surrounding the center dais where she had landed. Wanda groaned as cradled her bruised shoulder where she landed and looked around in fear.<p>

The chamber where she landed was huge and even in the light of the green flames, she couldn't see the walls. However, there was a distinct sensation of movement, as if the entire place was moving. It wasn't noticeable unless you stood completely still like Wanda was. The air was humid, almost as if it was underwater so it could be possible that the chamber was somewhere deep under the sea on unstable ground. She had read of similar things before.

Wanda studied the place where she landed and realized it wasn't so much a dais as much as it was some sort of large vault-like rock. There were runes inscribed all over it and she couldn't identify the language. However, it felt old. As in before the time of man old. That was not a good sign.

Wanda turned when she heard the distinct sound of footsteps coming closer. Wanda stood shivering in her humid clothes as a figure entered the light of the green flames. The woman was wearing a white dress that reached below her knees with a black cloak over it. Her hands were delicate, as if she had never done any manual labor herself and she was just a bit below average in figure with an average sized bust. The top of her face was cast in the shadow if her black hood but Wanda could see glowing ice blue eyes looking at her as if she was an ant even as a bit of stray purple hair fell in front of her face. Despite this, Wanda started to sweat as she felt magic pour out of her in greater quantities than she had ever felt, even when Slade's father had given a demonstration of light magic a few weeks ago. Wanda had no doubt that this woman could wipe the floor with Dr. Strange.

The woman chuckled at Wanda's fear. "Well, well. Look what we have here. A guest and the most awaited one as well. Boys? Please escort Miss Maximoff to her accommodations while I ready the ritual."

Wanda shivered at her tone, which was so cold and cruel that Wanda had no doubt she had ordered the deaths of billions of not more. "W-Who are you? How do you know my name?"

The woman just chuckled as the sound of people walking toward her was heard. "I have many names, dear, and you need not know any. After all, what use is a name to the dead?"

Wanda's eyes widened as she beheld the owners of the footsteps. There were humanoid in shape but larger than any man she had ever seen, being almost 8 feet tall. There were muscular, almost like professional wrestlers but their large size made their muscles seem even bigger. They were completely armored except for their heads which had black hoods throwing their faces into shadow. Their skin was pale, like they had never stood a day in the sun and they had large swords on their backs.

However, all of this was secondary to what truly scared Wanda.

Wings.

Large, black wings were growing from their back.

They seemed similar to a birds wings but there was something not right about them. Like they weren't supposed to have them in the first place and their having them was an affront to all winged beings. Slowly, memories of a large tome listing numerous demons and evil entities came to mind and one in particular that was thought to be extinct.

"Nephilim," said a now terrified Wanda.

Nephilim were the children of the demoness Lilith and the fallen archangel Lucifer. It was the only time in history Lucifer had ever lowered himself to bed the demoness and it had birthed an abomination race with the strength of angels yet able to walk among mortals. Every single account in Dr. Strange's library had told of their incredible magical and physical strength as well as their complete lack of compassion. Even the weakest had been strong enough to face an angel who are themselves strong enough to wipe the floor with any Sorcerer Supreme.

Wanda's eyes hardened and she readied her magic. Even if it was hopeless, she would fight till there wasn't a breath in her body.

Pandora rolled her eyes as Wanda fruitlessly tried to fight the Nephilim with elemental magic. The Nephilim just toyed with her and tried to make the fight last so they could have their fun.

Pandora sighed. "Fine, have your fun you brutes but don't harm a hair on her head till after the ritual. Afterwards, you can have her, but not before, understand?" She released part of her aura to enforce her command and the leader trembled and nodded.

Pandora watched as Wanda was slowly being overcome until she fell back on her chaos magic. The moment she sent a bolt of chaos magic into the nearest Nephilim, the Nephilim who was hit shrieked in pain and fell to the floor holding his chest before going still as he died. The other Nephilim realized the danger and one blurred and appeared behind Wanda before knocking her out. The same Nephilim picked her up and tied her the nearest stone pillar that rose from the center of the vault-like dais. Pandora muttered a spell to ensure Wanda stayed unconscious until she was ready before dismissing the Nephilim.

As the Nephilim left, the runes engraved on the vault glowed red slightly and an eerie yet seductive voice was heard.

"So this is the Chaos Witch whose blood will ensure my freedom? She hardly put up a fight."

Pandora cocked an eyebrow beneath her hood. "She put up a decent fight for a thirteen-year-old. It seems like the chaos magic she inherited from Chthon can kill even supposedly immortal Nephilim. And here I thought only angels could kill Nephilim."

The runes glowed brighter as if trying to contain the voice's anger. "I will make her pay for that! She killed one of my most precious children and they are as few as it is. Of course, once I am free I will see if my Lord Lucifer will gift me with more."

Pandora scoffed. "Why would He fall for your whorish charms now when He has refused them since the first and only time? It seems his tastes do not include females who spread their legs for every Tom, Dick and Tony."

The runes were now so bright they outshone the torches, yet despite her power and anger, they held their prisoner at bay. "We will see if you are so glib once I free, subordinate. It seems my absence has given your ideas above your station."

Pandora just scoffed. "You do not scare me, Lilith. How can I fear a person who, despite being multiversal almost omnipotent being, let themselves be caught by a rabble of evolved monkeys?"

This time the entire chamber trembled before the now-identified Lilith's rage. "I was tricked and drugged! I was barely at 10% when they captured me and even then it took 20,000 of the most powerful Atlantean sorcerers to bind me here! Of those 20,000, none survived binding me here. Of that, I made sure. And even then, they only bound one aspect of my greatness."

Pandora smirked. "Too bad they bound the aspect that held 90% of your power, right? How does it feel to have your other aspects be nothing more than common vampires or succubi? It must be humiliating. To go from near omnipotence to a common whore sucking the cock of every man that summons you."

The runes glowed but slowly Lilith's rage subsided. "That does bring an interesting question. You haven't bothered to free me since my capture 20,000 years ago. Why do you attempt to now? Especially since my return will demote you from second-in-command to third?"

Pandora shrugged and smiled mysteriously. "I've grown tired of being general of Lucifer's armies. It's not my thing. I'm more of a subtle corruption type. You are more..." Pandora chuckled. "... obvious, in your desires."

The runes glowed softly as Lilith mused her answer. "I sense truth in your words but you are holding something back. Even if that was true, why have you waited these past nine months to free me now?"

Pandora smirked knowingly. "Has so much time passed that you have forgotten? Tomorrow marks exactly 20,000 years since your capture. 20,000 years for 20,000 sorcerers that bound you. Tomorrow, the seals will be at their weakest and with the power of the Chaos Witch, we will be able to easily break the seals."

The seals glowed angrily. "Then what are you waited for?! Free me!"

Pandora rolled her eyes. "I'm going to do the long version of the ritual. The other would be faster but it would kill the Witch and I have... plans for her. Plus she is an obvious conduit to that idiot, Chthon. As long as she lives we know that Chthon isn't trying anything against Lord Lucifer. That child has always had ideas above his station and while it's amusing to see him be beaten down every time, we cannot risk him interfering at this stage of our plans. We are too close to victory for a single deviation to cause it all to fall down around us."

The seals glowed as Lilith grudgingly understood. "Very well, how long till I am free?"

Pandora stood up and brushed the dirt from her knees. "No more than a couple of hours. We have the blood of the Chaos Witch and that was all that was missing. The blood of a vampire, nephilim, incubus and succubus were easy to get. Especially since all but the vampire are eager for your return."

The seals glowed angrily. "I will deal with my disobedient children later. What of the blood of an Old One? They are my children as well and the blood of all my children is necessary."

Pandora waved her off. "That was not quite as easy but luckily, there was one Old One that managed to escape being trapped in Purgatory with the others. It was lucky he did because I didn't fancy taking a trip to the Inescapable Plain just to get a few jars of blood."

The seals glowed as Lilith's excitement was shown. "Which one was it?"

Pandora smirked. "Quor'toth, of course. That one always knew how to read the writing on the wall and escaped to his own dimension before the armies of Heaven fell upon the surviving Old Ones. Pity that they turned on each other. If they hadn't, not even Heave's armies would have been able to conquer them. The demons nowadays are either hybrids with humans or human souls that were corrupted. The only pure demons still free are you and me."

The seals glowed. "You are pure but demon? No... You are something else. Lord Lucifer never told me what you are, only that you were on our side. What are you?"

Pandora's smirk widened as she walked away. "That is for me to know and you to figure out. See you in a couple of hours."

As Pandora left the chamber, the torches went dark and all was silent.

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><p><strong>AN: And there's chapter 4!<strong>

**As always, Read and Review!**


	6. Chapter 5:Secret's Past, Future Revealed

Chapter 5: A Secret's Past, A Future Revealed

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. All other concepts and ideas from other books or stories belong to their respective authors. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**A/N: Sorry it took so long, but there was a lot of alterations to this chapter. So I am giving a little surprise at the end. Hope you enjoy.**

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><p>Sanctum Sanctorum, Greenwich Village<p>

Slade ran back into the house with Jean on his heels. They had spent a few minutes trying to find any clues as to Wanda's kidnappers at the site of her kidnapping but found little except the stench of dark magic having been used. Slade also felt as if the magic was...old was the only word he could use to describe it. As if whoever used it wasn't from their time and the way they used it wasn't quite right. As if it was an older style of casting magic.

Slade shook off his thoughts as he ran into his room with Jean hesitantly following as she cleaned her eyes of tears. Jean watched as Slade seemed to dart from place to place in his room, gathering materials of some kind. It was only when he started to take out some battle gear his father had bought and take off his sweatpants that she blushingly spoke. "S-Slade! Don't change with a girl in the room!"

Slade seemed to realize that Jean was still in the room and blushed but continued to put on some jeans and a crimson t-shirt. "Sorry but we need to hurry and try to rescue Wanda. I doubt whoever it was wanted her for benevolent reasons if they manipulated you and her to fight so much that she'd leave the safety of the mansion."

Jean looked confused and hopeful. "Huh? Manipulated us? You mean... someone controlled us?"

Slade nodded absentmindedly as he put on his robes and started to put some silver knives in his pockets.

"Yeah. You said you heard a voice in your head and that makes me think that someone used their powers to aggravate your negative feelings enough to cause the fight. They couldn't outright control you two due to the training we've put you through but they could indirectly cause problems by intensifying negative feelings beyond normal."

Jean looked thoughtful before a determined look came to her face.

"Then I'm coming with you. It's still partially my fault for not controlling my emotions and she's my friend too."

Slade was about to argue but stopped when he saw the determined look on her face. Slade sighed before nodding. "Alright, but hurry up and get dressed. Take only what you need since I have an idea for finding Wanda and we'll need to go light. We'll meet in the living room."

Jean nodded before hesitating slightly. "Shouldn't we tell Wong? I mean, he can help us right?"

Slade shook his head. "Wong has no mystical training and he'd probably try to stop us. Dad is out of reach and I have no idea where our teachers stay when they're not here so they're out too. Looks like we're on our own."

Jean bit her lip and nodded before running toward her room to get ready. Once Slade was ready, he walked out of his room and toward Wong's room where he placed a silencing charm around his room. It would keep him from hearing them and waking up as they got ready for transport. With that done, Slade took a deep breath before walking toward the living room.

Slade became steadily more and more nervous as he walked toward his goal and only hoped Agamotto was feeling helpful right now. He entered the living room and saw the case that was his goal. Slade gulped before walking towards it and opening the case, revealing its contents.

The Orb of Agamotto.

His father had explained that the Orb has the ability to show every location where the Sorcerer Supreme is needed to combat dark forces. For some reason, the Ancient One had given it to his father, saying he had no need for it since he could do it himself. This was further evidence to the fact that his father would be Sorcerer Supreme after the Ancient One passed but for now Slade wished to use its secondary function.

Its secondary function was the ability to contact Agamotto himself in his dimension, regardless of one's skill in the mystic arts. It wasn't recommended since Agamotto is often busy and contacting him for every little thing was a surefire way to annoy him enough to kill you. However, Slade would have to risk Agamotto's wrath because he was the only one with the knowledge and power to send him to Wanda.

Slade hesitantly touched the Orb before channeling magic into it and speaking. "A-Agamotto? I am sorry to bother you, milord, but I have an emergency and my father is not present. My friend was kidnapped by dark forces and considering her powers I doubt it was for benevolent purposes. Can you help me find her?"

All was silent for a few moments and Slade thought he had failed until he felt it all at once. An overwhelming presence that made Slade break out into a cold sweat and start to shiver. He managed to stay on his feet only through sheer willpower. After a minute, the presence receded although it didn't disappear completely.

"Hmmm... a child contacting me? Ah, the hubris of children nowadays. Yes, I heard you child but I doubt it is quite as important as you make it sound."

Slade gulped before speaking. "I don't wish to contradict you, sir, but my friend was literally sucked into a black portal that had dark tendrils pulling her into it. It also doesn't help that whoever it was, was powerful enough to bypass the defenses of the mansion enough to mentally and emotionally manipulate both my kidnapped friend and my other friend, both who have training in defending their minds."

It was silent as Agamotto mused on the information. "You say whoever it was managed to mentally bypass the Sanctum Sanctorum defenses and control two budding mystics? One of which is a powerful telepath and telekinetic, correct?"

Slade nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Hmmm... that's strange. I am connected to the defenses of the Sanctum Sanctorum and I didn't feel it. The power and skill necessary to escape my attention is considerable and only those on my level should be capable of it. Hmmmmm... Perhaps this is as important as you make it sound. Let me try and find your friend."

It was silent for a few minutes and Jean entered the room while Slade waited. Suddenly, the atmosphere became more and more oppressive as Agamotto's frustration mounted. Finally, it reached a peak and Jean fell on her knees from Agamotto's presence while Slade only held on due to being connected to the Orb.

"This is impossible! I sense that your friend, Miss Maximoff, is still within this dimension but I cannot find her! None should be capable of escaping my sight! The only ones that could do it are..." It was silent for a moment before Agamotto's voice returned with a hint of agitation and urgency. "This is worse than you can imagine, young one. I know of only three that could block my sight so thoroughly. There are others that are capable but not against my full power of sight. Of the three, one would not deign to lower himself to it, one is imprisoned and the other... the other is beyond even my capabilities to stand against. Worse still is that I have my suspicions as to why she wants your friend and if I'm correct then if she succeeds then the balance of power in the mystical realm will shift toward evil. What a time for your father and the Sorcerer Supreme to both be out of reach! This is their job! But no matter, you and your friend will have to do. I can't see exactly where it is but I do know that it's underwater. I will open a portal to one who can take toward your friend's location but it is up to you to convince him to help."

Slade gulped and nodded. "I understand, lord Agamotto and thank you."

The orb shined again. "You cannot stand against these enemies alone. I don't doubt that...whore will have her beloved "children" surrounding her as she's released so you'll need help. It's far too late to hope to stop her release but perhaps we can weaken her power base by destroying as many supporters as possible. Don't worry about her personally. There are ancient rules that prevent her from attacking you directly, just don't be stupid enough to challenge her directly. Trust me, she could turn you into nothing more than a memory with a flick of her fingers. Therefore, I shall give you a gift to help you on your journey."

There was a flash of blue light that blinded them for a moment. Once it receded and the stars left their vision, they saw a floating blue pebble similar to the Orb, just a lot smaller, floating in front of Slade. Slade hesitantly reached out and grabbed it before placing it in his robe pocket where it would be safe and easy to grab.

"That little blue pebble, once smashed on the floor, will allow me to manifest myself temporarily on your reality long enough to destroy your enemies. It won't be my full power but it should be enough."

Slade nodded and bowed his thanks. "Thank you, Agamotto. I would be lost without you."

The orb glowed blue and Slade could sense a hint of amusement in his tone. "Perhaps but I don't doubt you'd have found a way. You have great potential and I eagerly look forward to what you will become. That is clouded even from my vision but I can sense you will be great. How can you be anything but with the Rune of Fate/Void around your neck?"

Slade gave a start and touched the pendent on his neck. "This? Fate/Void? What is that?"

It was quiet for a moment before he answered. "Find and study the Sumerian runes written on the Roots of Yggdrasil. There are many examples of them and you will find a list of objects with those runes inscribed on them in the library. I suggest trying to find the Anvil near the Roots. You may have use for it for more than just studying the Runes inscribed on it. Still, we'll talk more about that later. You have a friend to rescue, I believe."

Slade nodded and a grim look came to his face. "You're right and thank you."

The orb was silent before a bolt of blue light came out and hit the far wall. A blue portal appeared where the bolt hit, showing an unknown beach at nighttime. Slade absently noted that the water was so clear that it reflected the stars and that there were no waves which was very strange.

Slade looked toward Jean, who was now dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt, and saw her standing there with a determined look on her face. Any thought of asking her to stay behind left him and he took a deep breath before entering the portal with Jean right beside him. The portal closed behind them and the living room was silent once more.

The stars were brighter than normal as they landed on the beach the portal took them too. The sea was so dark that they reflected the stars, making the difference between sky and sea hard to discern. Slade looked around and studied the island they had landed on.

The island was actually more of a large mountain with a beach surrounding it. There was no land separating the beach from the mountain base whose top couldn't be seen as it went higher than the cloud-bank. Slade could see a cave at the base of the mountain and from the orange light coming from it, he guessed that the mountain was actually an active volcano. For a second, he swore he saw a shadow move amongst the orange light but dismissed it when he didn't see it again. After all, who can be that tall and wide?

The cave was not a hundred feet from the water and the light from the cave showed that there was a boat on top of the sand near the water. It looked like a normal everyday boat except for an insignia of a hammer along the starboard side and runes inscribed along its length. Except for the boat, there was nothing else around.

Slade sighed as he eyed the boat. "Well, I guess it's obvious what we're supposed to do. Take the boat."

Jean looked nervous and bit her lip but nodded and followed behind Slade as he walked toward the boat. Once they reached the boat, Slade stopped and waved a hand over it, as if trying to touch something that was coming off the boat.

Slade looked equal parts surprised and mesmerized. "This boat seems to be almost made of magic. It has so many enchantments on it that I'm surprised that it doesn't attract the senses of every mystic in a thousand miles."

"That'd be because there isn't anyone around for a thousand miles, genius."

Slade and Jean turned at the sound of the voice only to see a sight that made equal parts amazed and terrified.

There was a giant of a man standing at the mouth of the cave they had seen before, with a giant black hammer over his shoulder. He stood at an incredible 9 feet tall and seemed to be made out of nothing but pure muscle. He had blue eyes and red hair that included a beard that continued from his hair to all around his chin but without a mustache. He was currently wearing a sort of strange getup that included brown pants and no shirt but he did have a short blue cape that only reached mid-back and whose function Slade didn't know. The light of the cave at his back made him look even more intimidating, not the he needed it.

The giant of a man glared at them before walking over to them with loud, echoing footsteps. "You plan on usin' them hands ever again... you'd best not go touchin'... that what ain't yers."

As he finished his threat, he had reached them and was now towering over their measly 5 and a half foot frames while glowering at them. Despite the man's size, Slade stood tall and just glared back while Jean gulped and got into a fighting stance.

Slade tried the polite approach first and so lost his glare. "I'm sorry. We had no idea the boat belonged to anyone. My name's Slade Strange and this is my friend, Jean Grey. We were sent here by Agamotto because he said there would be someone here that could take us to our kidnapped friend. Are you that person?"

The giant laughed. "That overgrown slug! I should have known that he was the one to have the guts to send a bunch of wee little kids to my domain. Name's Ulthane, boy. And sorry but I ain't that person. However, I do have an idea as to who is."

Slade and Jean brightened at his declaration and the latter spoke. "That's great! Can you take us to that person?"

Ulthane chuckled as if it was all a grand joke. "First off, the person that can take you to yer friend ain't exactly a person, if ye catch my drift. He's a serpent. The Midgard Serpent, Jormungand."

Slade and Jean paled at the explanation. They had read about the Midgard Serpent, supposedly so large that it could constrict the entire Earth in its length and strong enough to be destined to kill the Asgardian thunder god, Thor. How the hell were they supposed to get his help?

Slade steeled his determination as he remembered why they were there. "Then we'll get his help, no matter what he is. Can you tell us how to reach him?"

Ulthane cocked an eyebrow at Slade's determination but just smirked. "Well, my wee boat can take you across this here sea straight to him."

Jean smiled happily. "That's great! Thanks so much!"

Ulthane chuckled darkly. "Now...who said I'm gonna let ya take it? My boat's a work of art and I ain't about let some grubby little children take it on a joyride and break or lose it."

Slade frowned before shrugging. "Then we'll make our own boat. There are plenty of trees and the spell to make one isn't hard."

Ulthane let out a belly laugh at his statement, confusing them. "You make me laugh, boy. Obviously, those eyes of yers are just for show because you ain't using them. Haven't you looked at the sea?"

Slade and Jean frowned before looking over at the sea. Slade had to admit that the way the stars reflected off the sea was weird. Even at the clearest days, the stars never reflected off the water so well. It was almost as if-

Ulthane smirked as their jaws dropped. "I see you finally seen that that ain't no ordinary sea. That, children, is the Sea of Space that separates the dimensions. You didn't just travel to another part of the planet. You traveled to my dimension. No ordinary boat can get you across that sea and toward Jormungard's domain."

Slade and Jean gulped before the latter spoke. "Then only your boat can take us across it?"

Ulthane shrugged before turning his back to them and walking towards the cave. "Maybe. But most enchanted boats got requirements you see?"

Slade frowned before studying the boat. Unknown to him, his eyes flashed blue for a second as he studied the boat and came to a conclusion.

"You need to give us permission to use the boat as well as give it coordinates in order for it to work, don't you?"

Ulthane stopped just as he reached the mouth of the cave before turning back to them with a grin. "Yep. And?"

Slade's eyes narrowed and lightning started to flicker between his fingertips. "Then why won't you let us use it if you know we need to rescue our friend?! We'll bring it back!" Beside him, Jean was scowling as well and things were starting to float around her.

Ulthane turned back to them with narrowed eyes. "Cause I don't believe in sending you to yer deaths. Yer just kids and you don't have the strength to convince Jormungard, much less rescue yer friend from that witch."

Slade gritted his teeth even as Jean looked shocked at his knowledge. "You know who took our friend? Agamotto didn't say."

Ulthane nodded. "Yep. That devil witch Pandora took her, I imagine. Probably to let that whore, Lilith go free."

Slade first widened then narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "How do you know all this? Not even Agamotto know for sure..."

Ulthane waved him off. "I got my ways boy. Now go back home and hope yer friend dies quick. That's the most you can hope for because I ain't letting you use my boat."

Slade roared in anger and charged Ulthane with his hands filled with his purple flare magic. Quicker than he expected from a man so large, Ulthane turned around and grabbed his fist before throwing him away like a rag doll. As Slade flew away, Jean used the opening to send a powerful telekinetic push at the giant. However, Ulthane weathered it with a small grunt and swung his hammer at her.

It was lucky Jean had practiced her dodging because the crater the hammer made when it struck the ground told them that it would only take a single hit to kill them.

Slade got up and sent several purple flare beams at Ulthane who just took it without batting an eyelash before roaring and charging him with his hammer. Slade cursed as he used every bit of his skill to dodge the berserker swings that, despite having no real skill behind them, were strong enough that skill didn't really matter since he only needed one hit.

Eventually, Slade's luck ran out and he slightly lost his balance dodging a swing, making it impossible to dodge the follow-up swing. However, Slade managed to create a force shield around his body just before the hammer hit his stomach, sending him flying toward the cave mouth.

Despite having overloaded his force shield so that could take a hit from a cement truck going at 100 mph and stay standing, the hit had enough strength behind it to shatter it and almost crack one of his ribs with the remaining strength. Slade winced as he got back up and saw Jean helplessly trying to take Ulthane down with telekinetic pushes and only managing to make Ulthane laugh and thank her for the breeze.

Slade gritted his teeth at the hopelessness of the situation and wondered if they should just give up. 'No! I won't give up! I'll keep fighting till there isn't a breath left in my body! I need to save Wanda!'

Out of the corner of his eye, Slade saw a glint of metal and turned to the cave proper. He saw that Ulthane must be a smith of some kind since there was a large anvil with a roaring fire and various weapons lying about. There was everything from swords, hammers, axes, shields, and even a golden chain of some kind lying on a table. But what had caught Slade's attention was a specific weapons sticking out from among a pile of others.

It didn't look very special at first glance but upon closer inspection, Slade could see that that was due to the rust that seemed to have accumulated on the hilt from lack of use. It felt old but at the same time new. Like it had a long history and was just recently reforged.

The cry from Jean brought Slade back to the present and he saw that Jean was losing ground and Ulthane seemed to have stopped playing around and was getting serious. Slade grabbed the weapons and easily pulled two duel-sword from the pile of swords before charging at Ulthane from behind.

Ulthane heard his footsteps and turned to him before bringing back his hammer for a powerful swing just as Slade charged his magic into the sword and swung it to meet it.

A powerful explosion of wind and sound took place when the two weapons met and surprisingly, Slade's Sword blade held its own against the hammer's strength. However, eventually Ulthane's strength overcame Slade's magically enhanced strength and he was sent flying away. Luckily, Slade hadn't lost his grip on his sword and he quickly picked himself up and brandished it as he glared at Ulthane.

However, Ulthane had stopped and was looking at Slade with a curious look in his eyes. "Boy! How'd you manage to pick up that their weapon?"

Slade was confused at his question and the adrenaline from the fight slowly left him as Jean discreetly walked over to stand at his side while breathing heavily. "What do you mean? It was just sticking out from among a pile of your swords and I took it."

Ulthane narrowed his eyes and placed his hammer on its sheath on his back. Following his example, Slade and Jean fell out of their ready stances although Slade didn't put down the sword.

Ulthane walked over and looked from the sword to Slade. "Impale the sword on the ground for a moment." Seeing Slade's suspicious glance, he relented. "I, Ulthane, allow Slade Strange and Jean Grey to use my boat to reach Jormungard's domain." Behind him, the boat glowed silver for a moment before returning to normal. "Satisfied? Now impale the sword in the sand for a second."

Slade nodded and lifted the sword before impaling it halfway down its length into the sandstone at their feet. He stepped back once he did and allowed Ulthane to step forward.

Ulthane placed a hand on the Sword hilts (more like three fingers each since his hand was too big to fit) before pulling. Despite his incredible strength, the sword stayed stuck fast to the sandstone no matter how much he pulled.

Ulthane stepped back with a grunt and turned to Jean. "Now you girlie. Try pulling it out."

Jean huffed at being called girlie but did as she was asked. However, Jean also failed to pull it out of the sand despite her best efforts.

Ulthane nodded as if he expected it before turning to Slade. "Now you try, boy."

Slade huffed and walked over to the impaled sword. "I don't see how I'm gonna be able to when you and Je-"

Despite his words, Slade barely used any strength to pull them out of the sand. Unknown to him, an aura seemed to coat on him for a second before entering his body. Ulthane watched it with a sardonic grin while Jean was wide-eyed in shock.

Slade was confused because the sword had changed. The grip handle was now a solid black color with a few Indigo designs here and there. The pommel now had a dark purple jewel held in a Black claw similar to a dragon's while the cross guard was mostly black with purple designs here and there. The design of the cross guard extended to the shoulder of the blade and there was red jewel in the middle of the shoulder. The blade itself had an onyx center that extended along its length almost to its end and had several strange runes engraved in it. Slade couldn't help but notice that if his pendent was really a rune then the runes on his blade were of the same kind. He even saw the pendent among them which, if Agamotto was telling the truth, is the rune for Fate/Void. At the tip of the blade just after the black center ends was another set of runes of another kind and despite never having seen it before, Slade could swear he could read it.

Ulthane's chuckles broke him out of his trance and Slade looked up at the giant with a confused look. "What's so funny?"

Ulthane eventually stopped chuckling and explained. "That there is the Black Sword of the Void. It can supposedly only be wielded by those that have been bless by the void 'itself. I reforged it at the behest of an old friend that died a long time ago. He told me that someone with the Soul of five beings would come to reclaim it someday. Looks like yer more than just a scrawny kid, boy."

Slade huffed at the slight and looked back at the sword before his eyes landed on the runes in the golden center. "What do these runes say?" Jean leaned over his shoulder to look at the runes and despite the serious atmosphere, Slade couldn't help but blush at the feel of Jean's developing breasts pressing against his back.

Ulthane smirked at Slade's blush before speaking. "That says the Sword's name: Inanis. The runes are Ancient Sumerian much like that rune carved on yer pendent. Should have expected the one with the rune of Fate/Void to be able to wield the Black Sword of the Void."

Slade looked surprised that Ulthane recognized his pendent as a rune and then studied the different set of runes on the blade's tip. "And these?"

Ulthane shrugged. "No idea. Those runes are Fae runes and only a Fae can tell you what they mean. However, as its true wielder you should be able to read it too once you have a moment to sit and concentrate. It probably tells you most of its more esoteric abilities. For now, let me tell you the basic skill everyone knows about."

Slade reluctantly handed over the sword to Ulthane who pointed it to a rock halfway up the mountain. "Soar, Inanis!"

Inanis jumped from Ulthane's hands and flew so fast up to the rock that it was a darken blur. There was a crash and Slade could see that Inanis had impaled the rock halfway up its length, a one-hit kill if it had been a person.

Ulthane turned to Slade. "The command 'Soar!' makes Inanis fly at almost the speed of light to impale whatever yer thinking to impale. It can't be dodged no matter how fast the opponent since it bends space and time to reach its destination. I imagine you can think of a few ways its useful, right?"

Slade nodded but frowned as he looked up at the impaled Inanis. "That's great and all... but how do I get it down now?!"

Ulthane chuckled. "Just mentally call it back, boy. It is yer weapon, ain't it?"

Slade frowned before mentally calling Inanis back. There was a flash of light and Inanis instantly appeared back in his hand.

Ulthane gave Slade a critical eye before nodding. "Now, before yer go, you'll need a belt for the sword. Luckily, I had been expecting this day and made one just for it."

The two friends looked at each other before following Ulthane to the cave.

As Slade had previously thought, it looked as if Ulthane was a smith of some kind. He had been too bust before but he noticed now that the air in the cave was sweltering and Slade absently cast a cooling charm on both of them just to be able to stand there. Ulthane rummaged around the area as he searched for the sheath he mentioned while the two teenagers looked around with amazed eyes now that neither was in danger of being killed by their creator. Each and every weapon gave off a feeling of magic and power so great that any of them can equal even Thor's infamous Mjolnir.

Slade looked at Ulthane in a new light. "Who are you really? I mean... you're strong. You were playing with us during our fight and could probably have crushed us like bugs with a thought. I don't doubt you could probably match even the strongest of gods in a fight of pure strength easily. To top it all off, you can create and reforge weapons that can match even the god's mightiest weapons. Who are you?"

Ulthane looked up at him before sighing. "I'm the last of the Makers. We're an ancient race that came to being around the same time as the Old Ones although I don't know our exact origins. We were neutral in the fight between Heaven and Hell and made weapons for both sides. Michael's sword? I made that meself from the fires of the One-Above-All's very own Flame of Authority and the First Demiurge. Unfortunately, neither side liked that we made weapons for the other and eventually we were all killed off. I'm the last one left."

Ulthane sighed in remembrance. "We were also the ones that taught them dwarves how to smith, although they can never reach our skill. Bah! They rely on enchantments and the like to give their weapons their mystical powers. MY weapons use the Language That Was First that's now known as Ancient Sumerian. By not only using those runes but understanding their True Meaning, my weapons are far sturdier, powerful and longer-lasting than theirs. I also use True Metal only found on this here mountain and that only I can use to forge weapons. Inanis was reforged using True Metal so it will only ever break when you break, I promise you that!"

Slade mulled over what he was told before speaking. "So... can you teach me how to read Ancient Sumerian? It's just that..." Slade touched the pendent on his neck. "... I'm marked by one and I want to know what they mean."

Ulthane gave Slade a long look before turning back to his search. "Tell you what boy. You survive this here adventure and manage to find yer way back to me and we'll talk. Here it is!"

Ulthane turned around and presented Slade with a belt and sheath. The belt looked to be a normal everyday belt except for what Slade now recognized as Ancient Sumerian Runes along its length. On the other hand, the sheath was a beautiful piece of work. It looked to be made of solid onyx but Slade realized must be True Metal of a gold color with blue lines crisscrossing along its length in a beautiful pattern that made Slade think of clashing blades for some reason. There were Sumerian Runes along its center, 32 in total, and each was different. Slade's eyes landed on his personal rune: Fate/Void.

Ulthane noticed him admiring the runes and grinned. "Them is the whole alphabet of Ancient Sumerian runes. If you manage to survive and return here, I'll teach them to you. Just a fair warning. You may understand the translation of each rune but you'll only ever truly understand two or three runes at most."

Slade and Jean looked confused before the latter spoke. "But... what do you mean by truly understand?"

Ulthane chuckled and pointed to the line of runes. "Each runes is more than a letter or word. Each rune is an idea or better said, belief about the multiverse. For example, Fate/Victory means fated victory for those who don't truly understand the idea behind it. For those who do, it means more than just a simple victory was foretold. It means that every single decision and path to that encounter would have only ended in victory for the one marked by it. It means that no matter how the past is changed or what paths were taken, you were always fated to be the victor of that battle creating a truly 'fated victory'. I'll explain better if you get back."

Slade nodded his understanding even as a part of tried to digest the information. The rune basically said that there was no way for any to have beaten him no matter what he did. It basically spat in the face of free will and chance and said that his victory was the only possible outcome of that encounter. For someone who believes in free will and freedom, it was the ultimate slap in the face.

Slade looked up at Ulthane. "So what abilities does the sheath have?"

Ulthane smirked. "Well, first place Inanis inside the sheath."

Slade did as told and placed Inanis inside the sheath. Once inside, it glowed slightly before returning to normal.

Ulthane nodded. "Now only you can take the sword from its sheath. No other can draw it. Fair warning though, once it's out of the sheath, anyone can take it from you unless it's impaled somewhere. However, since yer the true wielder you can call it to you no matter where you are. The sheath also has a name. It's called Mir: The Unreachable Dream. Mir means Peace in Macedonian and if there's one thing that's unreachable between people, it's peace."

Slade looked up in protest. "That's not true. The world's is at peace now."

Ulthane cocked an eyebrow at him. "Really? So the entire world is at peace right now? There's no war anywhere on the whole planet?"

Slade opened his mouth to say yes but shut it quickly. That wasn't true, there was war going on in the Middle East even now. Come to think of it, while the major countries weren't currently at war, it seemed as if there was always war somewhere.

Ulthane nodded his head when he saw that Slade understood. "Exactly. Now, another thing about Mir is that it's a Noble Phantasm much like Inanis."

Slade looked up in confusion, a feeling that seems to be the norm when around Ulthane. "Noble Phantasm? What's that?"

Ulthane grinned. "Ask yer mystic teachers. They'll explain the philosophy behind it better than I ever could since I don't bother with them fancy beliefs and crap beyond the Sumerian Runes. Just know that by calling on the sheath's name you create an impenetrable shield around you that nullifies any and all attacks from reaching you from any direction. However, like the Sumerian Runes, you won't be able to use it effectively till yer know the true meaning of the Sumerian Rune Peace."

Slade looked down at the sheath in a new light and buckled it with Inanis inside to his waist before placing his robes over it so it couldn't be seen. He looked up to see Ulthane looking Jean over with a critical eye. "Yer one of them fancy 'mutants', right?" At Jean's hesitant nod, Ulthane grunted. "Well that makes giving you a weapon kinda difficult since most of me weapons need magic to wield." Ulthane looked into Jean's eyes for a second before grinning. "You kids are just full of surprises, ain't ya? A Host, huh? I think I got something for ya..."

Jean gave Slade a questioning glance but he just shrugged in confusion. Ulthane turned to his anvil and used his hammer on something they couldn't see due to his large bulk. He was muttering something under his breath before there was a flash of power and light.

"Aha! Here ya go, girlie. Don't go pointing it at anything ya don't want dead."

Ulthane threw something at Jean who caught it and almost dropped it once she saw what it was. "This is a gun!"

Indeed it was but it was like no other gun they had ever seen. It looked like a normal revolver along the grip but had a large barrel and there was no place to put bullets into it. At first, it looked too big for Jean but before their eyes, the gun shrunk until Jean could hold it in one hand easily.

Jean tested the weight and pretended to be pointing at something on the wall. "It doesn't weigh anything! In fact, it weighs less than a napkin would!"

Ulthane chuckled. "Yep! No weight for the wielder but you can still club someone with it and it'd hurt like nobody's business so it can also useful in a melee fight, though I ain't recommending it. It also has no need for ammo since it uses yer own telekinetic power to create energy bullets so no need to worry bout that!"

Jean bit her lip. "But... guns kill, right? I... I don't think I could do that."

Ulthane rolled his eyes. "Give me a second then." Jean handed over the gun that grew to Ulthane's hand size once it was in his hands. He turned around and seemed to be carving something on the gun before he muttered something and another glow was seen. He then turned back to Jean. "There. Now it only kills if you want it to and if you know what's good for you, girlie, you'd want to kill Lilith's servants. Believe me, they'll do worse to you, especially since yer female."

Jean gulped at the insinuation and Slade narrowed his eyes before speaking. "Do you... do you think they're doing that to Wanda?"

Ulthane shook his head. "Doubt it. They'd need her unharmed for the ritual. Any scratch or blemish on her could damage the entire thing so they won't risk it. Long as you rescue her either before the ritual starts or right after, she'll be fine. Word of advice, don't interrupt the ritual once it starts! It'd only end in yer friend's death."

Slade nodded his understanding. "Well, thanks then. I'll come back to learn after we're done. Promise. How do I get here anyway?"

Ulthane smirked. "Ain't easy. Agamotto only managed to get you here cause I owed him a favor and allowed it. He won't be able to do it again. He might be powerful but I'm old. And with age comes wisdom. My domain is protected by the First Language Runes and no one can enter without my permission. You manage to locate my domain somehow and I'll let you enter but only if you figure out where it is on yer own."

Slade nodded. It wasn't completely strange. Some dimensions could only be reached through passing certain trials and tribulations. Slade knew that locating his domain wouldn't be easy but it would be worth it to learn.

Jean was handed a belt to hold her new gun and she holstered it before turning to Ulthane. "Does it have a name?"

Ulthane smiled amusedly. "Yep. That there gun is called Mercy."

Jean gave him a deadpan look. "Mercy? For a gun?"

Ulthane shrugged. "Can't get more merciful than a quick death, do it?"

Slade interrupted Jean before she could give him a scathing comment. "Thanks for your help. Is there any way we could repay you?"

Ulthane looked thoughtful before nodding. "Actually there is. That witch Pandora got a dagger I made. Get it back for me and I'll be mighty grateful."

Slade nodded. "I'll do it. Thanks for everything, Ulthane."

Ulthane shrugged. "By the way, be careful out there in the Sea of Space. Within my boat, you'll be able to see everything that's normally hidden from mortal eyes and some things might surprise you. It also keeps yer invisible to anyone who tried to look for yer, even that all-knowing slug Agamotto. But no matter what ya see, don't leave the boat. You touch that there water and you'll be lost forever."

With that last bit of advice and saying thank you once more, the two teenagers walked out, leaving Ulthane alone. Once he was sure they were gone, he sighed. "Yer won't be thanking me once you know what I did. Of that, I'm sure." With that last comment, Ulthane turned back to his anvil and began to work.

Slade and Jean pushed the boat until it touched the "water" before jumping into it. They made sure not to touch the "water" due to not wanting to risk something happening if they did. It was just lucky that they hadn't tried to touch the water when they arrived, though the fact that there had been no waves should have given them a clue that the water wasn't normal.

It seemed as if the boat could steer itself since it quickly pushed through the sea and into some unknown direction. Slade and Jean admired the sight of the water and the sky, as well as noticing how quickly Ulthane's island disappeared behind them. It felt as if they were floating among the stars and only the fact they were on a boat and they could breathe convinced them that they weren't in space. Jean was quick to point out that despite the boat moving along the "water" quite quickly, it made no ripples and it was almost as if everything was moving instead of them being the ones in movement.

Jean turned to Slade with a curious look. "Do you think Agamotto knew that you would get Inanis here or that it was just luck?"

Slade looked down at the sword in its sheath at waist and remembered Ulthane's comment. He said it was ironic that he would Inanis's true wielder and have the rune of Fate/Void carved unto his pendent. "I think... that me getting Inanis was fated one way or another. I don't know whether Agamotto knew or not but I doubt it. No one knew Inanis was with Ulthane except him and I doubt he told anyone."

Jean nodded before looking down at the gun holstered at her side. "I know that killing is wrong but for some reason... I feel as if this gun belongs to me, you know?"

Slade nodded as he felt the same about Inanis. As if some part of him he didn't know was missing had been found. "Yeah, I know what you mean. But Ulthane did say you could control it so it didn't kill so that means you can use it as a weapon without fear of killing someone by mistake." Slade then shrugged. "It also gives you a long-range weapon other than your telekinesis in case you're too tired to use it. You never know when you may need it. You can use it until you manage to create those telekinetic Sais you're planning on learning to make."

Jean nodded her agreement and then turned to look ahead before gasping and pointing at something. "Look!"

Slade turned to see what she was pointing at only to go wide-eyed as well.

It was a bridge. A giant rainbow bridge that seemed to originate from somewhere high up and down to where the boat seemed to be heading. The bridge looked ethereal, almost as if it wasn't meant to actually be walked across but more as a sort of highway for whoever uses it.

Slade turned to Jean who was still enraptured by the sight. "The Bifrost Bridge! That's the Bifrost Bridge that's mentioned in Norse mythology. If I'm right, that bridge leads up into Asgard, the realm of the Norse gods!"

Jean's eyes widened even further. "They're real. The Norse gods are real. So that must mean that all the other ones are real too. But... how can that be possible?! Almost all mythologies say their gods live in the skies! Surely there isn't space in the sky for all of them, right?"

Slade mulled it over before coming to a conclusion. "Well... the myths don't really say their gods are in the sky per say. They say that they're in the heavens. Wouldn't you consider the planet Mars to be in the heavens?"

Jean slowly understood what Slade was insinuating. "You mean that these mythological gods... live on different planets?!"

Slade shrugged. "Not exactly. Maybe the physical location where they live is on a different planet but more likely, the gods live in dimensions that are just out of sync with ours. The portals they go through to reach ours are in certain locations, like Mt. Olympus or Miyazu Bay in Japan. Dad's told me of similar stuff before. So maybe the dimensions they live in are just a second of sync with the other planets', making them unreachable to normal people but still 'residing in the heavens', understand?"

Jean nodded as she mulled it over. "I think I do and it does make sense. I don't doubt that the sky would become crowded quickly if they all lived there. But what does that mean about where God lives? I mean... Ulthane did mention Heaven and Hell. So that means God exists, right?"

Slade frowned in thought. "Yea... but I think that True Heaven and Hell are unreachable for anyone while still alive."

Jean turned to him in confusion while still admiring the sights around them. "Why do you say that?"

Slade turned to look at Jean. "Think about it. If any mortal, magic-user or even immortal god could reach it, what would they have to fear about judgment? They could just open a portal there and bypass judgment. It would put a real cramp into the whole Judgment thing, don't ya think? Even immortals aren't exempt from Judgment, theirs is just postponed. Either way, I'm glad we can't reach it until we die."

Jean gave him a questioning look. "Why's that?"

Slade had a grim look on his face. "Because if we could reach them then they could reach us. Can you imagine a near infinite amount of beings as strong if not stronger than Ulthane fighting across our plane of existence?"

Jean thought about it for a second before shivering in fear. "We'd all be annihilated within an hour. You're right. Things are better off as they are."

Slade nodded before concentrating on the trip once more.

The boat kept going for a while more before they caught sight of Earth. It was just like they'd seen in hundreds of pictures if not more majestic. However, the one thing that detracted from all that was the fact that they were hurtling at it at speeds that promised a very rough landing. Before they had time to scream, they had passed the atmosphere like it wasn't even there and plunged into the sea. The boat seemed to create a sort of bubble around them that gave them air and protected them from the water pressure. It led them deeper and deeper into the sea, deeper than any submarine or other sea vessel could go and Slade understood why they had needed Ulthane's boat to take them here. No portal could take them somewhere no mortal had gone before.

The boat eventually reached the sea floor and the protective bubble surrounding them allowed them to see through the pitch black water a couple of feet around them. They shivered as they caught sight of things at the corner of their eyes that looked as if was from ancient times. These creatures certainly had never had contact with any human before and if they had, the human hadn't survived long. They were instantly thankful for the fact that the boat kept them invisible from any and all eyes.

Eventually they reached a stretch of ocean floor free of any sea denizens. They had been traveling along this stretch for a while when Jean grabbed Slade's arm and started shivering before pointing to their left. Slade looked up only to pale at the sight before him.

* * *

><p>It was Jormungand.<p>

And he was HUGE!

Technically they were only seeing a part of Jormungand's body but they could see that he was as big as legends claimed. Miles upon miles of mile thick hide was visible before their eyes as it coiled all along the ocean floor and they still couldn't see Jormungand's head. Such was his immense size that they couldn't see either end yet.

They continued to travel along Jormungand's length toward what they imagined was his head and they became more and more apprehensive. Everyone had an instinctive fear of serpents of all kinds unless they'd either grown up around them or trained themselves to lose it. It was made worse by the fact that they were so deep underwater that all Jormungand had to do to kill them was throw them out of the boat and let them die by water pressure.

Eventually, they reached what looked to be the end of the line as they reached what looked to be an underwater cave of some sort. They gulped as they saw that one end of Jormungand entered the cave and it finally sunk in that they would be peaking alone with a serpent long enough to encircle the world in order to try to convince him to help them.

They fervently hoped luck was on their side.

The boat silently entered through the cave mouth where the serpent's body entered and went up until it broke the surface. Once they broke the surface, Slade and Jean looked around and caught their first glimpse of Jormungand's face.

He looked similar to what a dragon's face would look like rather than a snake's. He had two large 'tusks' as well on either side of his mouth that jutted out horizontally similar to an insect's mandibles. He had two large forearms as well that he was currently sleeping on and even asleep, an aura of menace exuded from him.

Slade gulped before steeling his courage and getting out of the boat along with Jean. The good news was that the boat stayed where it was instead of disappearing as he had feared. The bad news was that once they left the boat, they could no longer see Jormungand.

Jean leaned over to whisper in Slade's ear even as she tried to look for Jormungand once more. "Where is he? Does he know we're here and went invisible?"

Slade shook his head. "No. I think he was always invisible and ethereal but we could only see him thanks to the boat's abilities. A lot like we could see the Bifrost while inside the boat but no astronaut has ever seen it before. But now that we're out, we can't see him anymore. However... I think he could still see and hear us."

Slade steeled his courage once more before stepping forward. "Jormungand. I'm sorry for disturbing your rest but we humbly ask for your help."

There was no sound or movement that gave away if he had heard them but Slade somehow knew he had and if they could see him, he would probably be coiling around them at that very moment.

A sibilant voice that made chills go down their spine was heard. "What do we have here? A child god? No... You would be able to see me if that was true. A sorcerer? Yes... I sense magic coming off the dark-haired one in waves. Almost as much magic as my father. Why have you disturbed my slumber and how do you know I am here?"

Slade gulped before going down on one knee and gesturing at Jean to do the same. "My name is Slade Strange, great Jormungand, and this is my friend Jean Grey. We could previously see you thanks to the transportation we took here that allowed us to see things invisible to mortal eyes. As for why we are here... we were told by the Agamotto that you are the only one capable of helping us on our quest."

The sibilant voice returned, now with a faintly amused and curious tone. "I see... and what makes you think that I can help you?"

Slade stopped trying to see where Jormungand was and just kept his eyes to the floor. "Agamotto told us that only you can find where our friend, Wanda Maximoff, is located. Not Odin, not him, nobody but you could possibly help us."

Jormungand now sounded very amused. "Ah... flattery will get you everywhere, young one. But I must ask, why would I help you even if I could?"

Slade had no answer to that question. He had never even thought of what he would do to try and convince Jormungand and this had come back to bite him in the ass.

Thankfully, Jean intervened. "Great Jormungand, we ask for your help because we think that the place where our friend is being held lies deep beneath the sea. Since you are the king down in these depths, we imagine it bothers you for another to dare claim to be ruler here."

There was a deafening silence as Slade somehow felt as if Jormungand was NOT happy at her words. "Another dares to say he rules these depths?! Yes... I think I know of who and what you speak. The Leviathan... he has been here since before even I but I can't challenge him due to him being protected by ancient rules. He has always been smug about that. He may be a creature but he also functions as a prison for something that is far older. Hmmmmm... Yes, it can be no other for only I could take you to where he is. Very well, I will take you to where he is and even help you enter him... however, you must promise me that you will destroy him. I have abided his presence long enough. He will die this day! Understood?"

Slade and Jean nodded their understanding before the former spoke. "We understand, great Jormungand, and we thank you for your help."

Jormungand's amused voice returned. "Yes, I am most kind am I not? But I tire of speaking in your tongue and one of you will need to speak my tongue to enter Leviathan the way I have planned so..."

Suddenly, a massive python appeared coiling around Slade before biting down on his neck. Slade screamed in pain as he felt...something enter his veins and travel throughout his body. The python let go after its venom had entered him and let a few tears drop onto the wound. Jean watched in shock as the bite mark disappeared as if it had never been there and Slade fell down on the floor breathing heavily.

The python hissed and started circling them with its massive length. "I couldn't bite you in my true form without killing you so I had to take this one. My venom is special in that it can kill even gods. However, I can also change it in order to gift you with the ability to speak my tongue. You can understand me, can't you?"

Slade nodded confusedly. "Yeah but I could always understand you."

Jean looked from the chuckling python (no idea how that was possible) to Slade with a confused look on her face. "What did he say, Slade?"

Slade frowned as he stood up on unsteady legs. "Didn't you understand him?"

Jean nodded. "Before, yes. But now all I heard was hissing. You can understand him?"

Jormungand chuckled. "The boy can now understand the language of serpents. While not as old as the First Language, it is one of the most universal tongues among all serpent-kind. You can now speak to anything vaguely serpent-like from snakes to Drakons, though if you meet the latter I suggest you use it to beg for mercy."

Slade glared at the chuckling python. "What was the point of me gaining the ability to talk to serpents?"

Jormungand gave off an aura of irritation. "Don't take that tone with me, boy! The ability to converse with serpents is a gift that some gods would give an eye for." Jormungand chuckled as if he told a particularly funny joke. "Anyway, serpent tongue has various uses but the most notable is the creation of barrier spells when speaking in it. Any barrier created using serpent tongue is twice as strong as it would normally be. Conversely, breaking barriers or wards are much easier since you can use serpent tongue to figure out how to break them down. I'll leave you to figure out how but the important thing is that I'm going to teach you a barrier spell that will shrink and your friend to molecular size. I'll use my magic to put you into my venom glands and I'll bite the Leviathan. This will allow you to travel along with my venom into the Leviathan until you reach its heart, which is not a true heart. The Leviathan's heart is replaced by the prison it is meant to guard. The spell will dissipate at your command so be careful not to dissipate it too early. I'd hate to have wasted my time with you."

Slade looked wide-eyed at the information. "Wow! I didn't know parseltongue could do all that!"

Suddenly the python was constricting both him and Jean and its face was inches away from Slade. It was easy to see that he was angry.

"It is NOT parseltongue and never call it that again! Parseltongue is the language of the lower tier snakes that have not ascended above their instincts and so speak a bastardized version of true serpent tongue. Any snake or similar creature who has risen above their instincts and can use the magic of the Earth calls itself a serpent to distance itself from those that cannot. To call one of us a snake is a grave insult and be glad I am in a good mood or I would kill you for it."

Slade gulped even as Jean shivered in fear before nodding his understanding. "I understand, lord Jormungand, and I'm sorry. It will never happen again."

Jormungand, still in python form, slowly let them go. "See that it doesn't." Once he completely let them go, he turned to Slade once more. "Now, to teach you a few serpent spells..."

* * *

><p>Pandora hummed even as Wanda screamed as Pandora carved the last rune into her body. Pandora surveyed her handiwork all over the nude body of Wanda and nodded her acceptance. This had been the reason she hadn't allowed Wanda to be harmed before the ritual. She needed to carve a specific sequence of runes in specific areas of Wanda's body in order to be able to use her as the final key to open Lilith's prison. Any bleeding or scratch would have damaged a potential place where a rune was needed and she couldn't risk it. They had only one chance and that was it.<p>

Wanda sobbed as the runes carved into her body continued to glow. They had been cauterized by the dagger's passing so they didn't bleed but they still burned brutally and Wanda felt as if the runes had been etched onto her soul as well as her body.

Wanda tried to block out the pain by concentrating on something else so decided to concentrate on the dagger being used to cut her. It was quite ornate, with red gems on the pommel, black leather for a hilt and the blade itself was pure silver with several runes inscribed on it.

Pandora noticed her curiosity and beamed at her in fake joy. "Like it? It was made by a particularly gifted smith that is the last of his kind. It has the power to allow me to bypass a single ancient rule as long as I'm in a warded area. So long as I'm in here, I can harm any human I wish regardless of rules as long as I only harm them using this dagger. Neat, ain't it?"

Through the haze of pain, Wanda looked down from where she was hanging spread-eagled above the dais where she had landed and now knew was the prison door for something far worse than the demon before her. "Why?"

Pandora clicked her tongue in false sympathy. "Oh, I'm sorry my dear but it had to be done. You are the Witch of Chaos and we need your magic to open the final lock to Lilith's cage. Unfortunately, you are much too young to be able to channel that much chaos magic even if you wanted to help us so we have to draw it directly from your blood. These runes will purify your chaos magic and make it enter your bloodstream. It takes longer than simply ripping the magic from your body but at least this way you may survive."

Wanda tried to glare at her but failed. "What do you care if I survive or not?"

Pandora smirked evilly which was made worse by the fact that the only thing Wanda could see was the lower part of her face and her ice blue eyes looking at her from the shadows. "Oh, I have plans for you, dear little Chaos Witch. Having someone like you on my side will be extremely beneficial for my future plans."

Wanda finally managed to glare up at the seemingly innocent girl facade before her. "And if I refuse?"

Pandora's eyes flashed and her voice deepened so it showed her true demonic nature. "Then I will have no need for you anymore. After all, these nephilim have been working so hard that they'll need some... recompense for their hard work and if you refuse, you'll do just fine."

Wanda just looked her in the eyes defiantly. "My friends will come for me."

Pandora chuckled and her voice returned to its previous 'innocent' tone. "Oh, you better hope not. Cleaning up the mess the nephilim will make of them will be ever so bothersome." She gave off a childish giggle before slipping away so she was outside the ritual area, leaving Wanda to study the five beings standing along the perimeter of the cage.

There was a vampire, a nephilim, an incubus, a succubus and what looked to be a barrel of blood hooked up to some sort of machine that would drain it into the floor beneath it. Each was standing on top of a symbol of some kind and were looking nervous. Wanda was hanging naked above the center of the ritual area in a spread-eagled fashion so that her body made a star shape. Wanda absently noticed that the five symbols were arranged like a mirror image to her own spread-eagled position with her arms each pointing at a symbol, the same with her legs and the last one being in line with her head.

Pandora smiled reassuringly to the nervous willing participants. "Don't worry, you four. We only need a bit of your blood and it'll be over. Now, each of you be sure to be standing right in the center of the symbol below you and when I say so, drop a few drops of blood on the symbol. Lilith will reward you greatly for your service."

The four willing participants nodded and now looked eager to get their promised rewards. At Pandora's signal, they slit their wrist deep enough to let a steady stream of blood drop onto the symbol beneath them. At the same time, Pandora telekinetically activated the machine with the barrel and it dropped blood onto the symbol. The five symbols lit up a dark red similar to the blood spilled.

The participants looked as if they were about to move out of the symbol but found that they were stuck fast. The succubus looked at Pandora in shock and confusion. "What-What is this?"

Pandora gave a mock sad look to the four demons. "Well, you know how I said I only needed a few drops of blood?" They all nodded. "Well, I meant a few drops of blood... if you were a giant. For you four it'll be much, much more than that."

As she finished, five red tentacles popped out of the symbols and impaled the beings above them before starting to suck their blood. The barrel itself was also impaled and had several tentacles quickly taking the blood inside. The four demons screamed in pain as their blood was sucked out of them until they were nothing but withered husks and died.

Pandora smiled evilly at the sight and Lilith's voice was heard. "What brave children, to sacrifice themselves for their beloved mother. Remind me to make a short memorial for them, would you?"

Pandora rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

The blood from the sacrifices overflowed from the depressed symbols and started to go down channels carved into rock before reaching a pool in the center right beneath Wanda. Wanda, hanging above the Cage, was the only one who could see the symbol that was formed out of the blood. It resembled a rune but for some reason, it filled Wanda with fear just looking at it.

Lilith's impatient voice was heard. "Well?! How long till the final phase of the unsealing?!"

Pandora gave a long-suffering sigh. "A while yet but not much. We need to let the blood set into the Rune before we add her blood or else it won't mix correctly. Don't worry, it won't be more than five minutes." Pandora smiled evilly and Wanda had a glimpse of the true evil hidden beneath the veneer of a kind girl. "And then, the real fun begins."

Slade had to admit that this was a very strange experience. They were currently no bigger than a drop of water, protected by the Serpent's Shrunken Barrier spell inside Jormungand's venom sac. When they had asked how he could bite Leviathan when it was supposedly impossible to attack due to ancient rules, Jormungand explained he could bypass the protection temporarily but it would take most of his strength to do so. This was the reason that he would only be able to bite the Leviathan once rather than attempt to kill it. His venom would also be ineffective since the Leviathan lacked a heart to poison.

The boat had disappeared soon after they had agreed to Jormungand's plan, almost as if it knew it was no longer needed. Jean complained loudly about Ulthane saying they would lose it when it obviously had a "come home" function installed but Slade just shrugged it off.

There was a rushing sound as the venom outside of their bubble rushed out the fang's exit. Slade turned to Jean, who had finally regained her composure after the unnerving meeting with Jormungand. "Well, game time, Jean. You ready?"

Jean gave a shaky nod. "As I'll ever be." Jean sighed and gave him a sarcastic smile. "Only you could have an interesting enough life that I'm going to fight omnipotent beings at fourteen."

Slade gave her a sheepish smile before the bubble shuddered and they came out of a "vein" alongside a wall in a large chamber. There was a large crowd of around 20 beings near the center but they were too large and far away to see any details as they were. Slade could only see that they were humanoid and unless he was imagining things, had large black wings.

After making sure that they were no enemies nearby, Slade cancelled the Serpent's Shrunken Barrier spell and they grew back to their normal sizes. Slade and Jean quickly kneeled down into the shadow of the wall to avoid detection and Jean used her telepathic powers to discreetly make sure that no one looked in their direction. Slade used another serpent spell that created an intangible barrier around them that would walk with them and would make them invisible to most. However, it didn't affect any other sense so they could still be heard.

Slade nodded encouragingly at Jean who concentrated and levitated them above their enemies' line of sight. They stuck to the shadows of the ceiling just in case the enemies could see through the spell. Luckily, the ceiling was quite high and the light of the torches didn't reach that high up. Once they were halfway to the center of the chamber, they took in the sight before them.

Wanda was chained spread-eagled hanging from the roof while a crowd of now-recognizable nephilim surrounded the perimeter. However, what grabbed Slade's attention was the hooded female walking toward the hanging Wanda. She radiated dark magic on a scale Slade had never felt before and seemed to be dark magic given form rather than just a dark magic user.

Slade and Jean hovered above the hanging Wanda. Luckily, the chamber was so dark that even without the spell, they wouldn't be seen. The chains holding her were connected to the far walls and so tight that she was stuck in her star shape no matter how much she moved. Slade hissed under his breath when he saw the runes carved onto Wanda's skin and had to stop himself from lashing out.

The hooded female reached beneath Wanda and took out a dagger. Slade realized this must be the dagger Ulthane had asked to be returned, meaning that the female had to be Pandora. Slade shivered of the thought of retrieving the dagger forcefully. He had no illusions that he could beat her and wondered how he could trick her into dropping the dagger.

Pandora looked up at the hanging Wanda with a smile. "Now for the last phase of the ritual." With that statement, she stabbed Wanda in the stomach.

It was only Jean's hand on his shoulder that kept him from jumping down and attempting to rescue Wanda. Jean looked at Slade with a sad look. "I know you want to rescue her but remember what Ulthane said, interrupting the ritual will kill Wanda. We have to wait till it's over to try and rescue her."

Slade wanted to retort that she might not survive till the end but held himself back. Jean was right. Despite Slade wanting nothing but to jump down and save his friend, he had to hold himself back least he cause her death in the first place. He instead decided to study the runes engraved along the large stone prison and realized they were Ancient Sumerian...almost. They were recognizable as Ancient Sumerian but if possible, it looked as if it was in an older style than the ones inscribed on Inanis and Mir. They gave off a feeling of confinement and rejection. As if they were rejecting the very concept of the one they were imprisoning.

Slade focused as he saw that Pandora had dropped the dagger into the pool of blood beneath Wanda where her blood was dripping. At least she didn't have it anymore and if he could grab it before anyone noticed...

Deciding to worry about that later, Slade and Jean were forced to watch as blood dripped down Wanda's stomach wound and into the circular pool of blood beneath her. The pool glowed a bright red before darkening to purple. Once it did, Pandora sent a spell at Wanda that healed the wound and stopped the flow of blood. However, Wanda's agonized scream told them the way she healed her wasn't painless.

Slowly, a whirlpool formed within the pool, leading to a dark place. Slade felt his hair stand on end as something moved within those depths. Something horrible yet beautiful for some reason.

The being appeared slowly, rising up out of the pool as a shapeless mass of purple blood till it stood at about 6 feet tall, just a few inches below Wanda's hanging form. The shapeless mass started to take on a more humanoid form until it was about 5'7" tall and started to define itself until Slade could say without a shadow of a doubt that it was female. The only thing different was the massive bird-like wings the shape was sporting. The mass became more and more defined until it took on a shape of a woman with long hair, large breasts and posterior with high heels. Slowly, the woman started gaining color and finally finished a minute later. The portal beneath her disappeared and the runes that had been lit up during the entire ritual went dark.

Slade studied the now-released Lilith, for she could be no one else. Like any teenage boy, he first noticed she was very well-endowed in every feminine area, which was accentuated by her clothing, if you could call them that. All she was wearing was two thin strips of black clothing that went down her body vertically and barely covered her nipples and were tied behind her neck. They then went down her body before becoming a pair of panties that barely covered anything. The two strips of black clothing had a few black strings connecting them together so that they wouldn't move out of place and invited the person to stare at the cleavage in between. She also had on a pair of black high heels that accentuated her body, not that she needed it. To sum it up, she was the incarnation of every man's wet dream that was only made worse by the aura of seduction she gave off.

Slade gulped as he fought his primal instincts. Beside him, Jean seemed to be suffering from the same instincts as well and Slade realized that her aura didn't discriminate between sexes.

Lilith stretched to work out the kinks of her body as well as put her body on display for all her viewers. She spread her black wings before closing them where they seemed to disappear into her body. She smirked as she looked at the assembled nephilim who, despite her technically being their mother, seemed all too willing to help her work out every kink she might have. She chuckled before turning to the smirking Pandora.

"Well, it seems as if you actually managed it Pandie, dear."

Pandora's eyes narrowed beneath her hood as her voice became slightly demonic. "Don't call me Pandie."

Lilith smirked at her. "Now there's the demon I remember. I thought you'd spent so much time playing the innocent little girl to remember. I heard about your exploits with the Greek gods. Very well done I must say."

Pandora gave a mock bow. "I have to say, corrupting the many pantheons through the Olympians was my best work. If I hadn't they would have no doubt sided with our enemies. By corrupting them however they are forced to be declared neutral else they be found 'unclean' and killed by both sides."

Lilith chuckled. "Yes. There are now so busy fighting amongst themselves that they won't ever be a threat to us. I must admit that you handled it better than I would have. I probably would have just bedded several of them and made their wives catch us."

Pandora's tone became deadpan. "You would do anything for a fuck."

Lilith's face was unrepentant. "What can I say? It's in my nature." Lilith turned to the no longer bleeding Wanda who was slowly coming to. "Are you sure you want her? I can imagine the fun I could have with her. She did free me so I'd turn her into my heir and have her become a little mini-me. She's still young so a few alterations here and there and she'd be the most desirable woman, besides me, in the Universe. Oh, my children would love her."

Pandora looked amused. "I might let you have her if she turns me down. Speaking of," Pandora walked over to Wanda till she was under her once more, the dagger still lying in the center of the now empty pool between her feet. A large nephilim that seemed to be the leader of the group walked till he was standing beside her like a bodyguard. "Have you made your decision? What will you do? Serve me or become Lilith's little sex toy?"

Slade nodded at Jean and they jumped down, Slade pulling Inanis from its sheath and Jean gathering her power in her hands.

Pandora looked up just as Slade reached level with Wanda and yelled, "NEITHER!"

Using gravity and Inanis own power, Slade impaled the nephilim leader through his skull and into his chest. Inanis shined slightly before the nephilim burst into flames. The burst corpse gave a little shake before crumbling to ash, taking Slade with him. Slade looked at Inanis with an awed look. "Okay, you have now jumped to number 1 in my 'Awesome weapons' list."

Meanwhile, Jean had freed Wanda and was securing the dagger used in the ritual so Pandora and Lilith couldn't use it to harm them. Without it, they would have to obey the ancient rules saying they can't attack mortals.

Slade took advantage of the enemies' shock and used his power to rip the chains that held Wanda out of the walls. The nephilim regained their senses at that time and charged Slade and the girls. However, Slade was prepared and reinforced the chains before giving them some false sentience and throwing them at the charging nephilim.

At first, the chains worked as expected and the reinforcement allowed them to survive against the nephilim's blades. However, the nephilim quickly overcame them by grabbing them and breaking them with their incredible strength.

Gulping, Slade sent spell after spell at them as Jean used what little first aid she knew and a cream for wounds on Wanda. After doing all she could, Jean turned to help Slade by using Mercy in her right hand and telekinesis with her left. Necessity is the mother of all invention and Jean, who previously had trouble lifting herself in the air, was now slamming the nephilim around like rag dolls before blasting them with Mercy.

Slowly but surely they were being surrounded until they were completely encircled by the nephilim. They had only managed to take five more out of the running and had quickly come to the conclusion that nephilim were extremely hard to kill. The only wounds that didn't regenerate were the ones inflicted by Inanis and those were mostly superficial wounds anyway due to Slade's lack of skill wielding a European sword.

When they were completely surrounded, Lilith spoke. "Stop! That's enough, my darlings." Suddenly, Lilith fazed in front of them in a show of overwhelming speed that shocked them. She studied Jean without a hint of fear. Then again, she had nothing to fear since if they tried anything she could kill her with nary a thought. As long as Jean didn't make the first move, she couldn't attack them. But when Lilith looked at Slade up and down with a curious stare as if she had seen him before, causing Slade to gulp nervously.

"Hmmm... you remind of someone, someone I haven't seen since.

Since…"

"Slady?"

Slade took a deep breath.

"Hello, mother."

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><p>Both Jean and Wanda gasped at what Slade had called Lilith. They both knew that the circumstances of Slade's birth were complicated, what with having four mothers and one father. Now that they think about it Slade mentioned three of the four mothers by name, Uriel the Archangel, Shara the Demoness of Fate and the cosmic entity Death, the only one not mentioned was the human wiccan, the one who actually gave birth to him. Now they knew why.<p>

Lilith smirked as she saw the despair in his eyes. "Come with me my dear Slade and I'll show you things you would never have seen if not for me. Teach you things you would never have known, give you power beyond any mortal's comprehension," she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him and whispered into his ear. "Give you a family, which would never abandon you to madness. What do you say?"

Slade felt his instincts flare and almost fell to the temptation of just saying yes. However, out of the corner of his eye he saw Wanda looking at him in fear and silently pleading him to reject her. Somehow, he gathered the strength to push down his primal instincts and turned back to Lilith, who was now standing a few feet in front of him with a smirk on her face.

Slade gathered his resolve and gave Lilith a determined look. "I'm sorry but the answer is no."

Lilith's smirk slipped and fell and her yellow eyes turned from a loving yet seductive gold to a sickly yellow. Slade could suddenly see a glimpse into her true demonic form as he saw a tail and horns appear. "You dare reject ME?! No one rejects me! I reject them once I tire of them! You insolent little!"

Pandora materialized beside her in another show of speed and chuckled. "Looks like you've lost your touch, Lilith."

Lilith turned to Pandora and gave her a withering glare. "Be quiet!" Lilith turned to Slade with an evil smile. "So be it! Children, tear them and your traitorous brother to pieces!"

The nephilim started to close in on them when Slade remembered something. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the blue pebble Agamotto had given them. "I hope this works!" Slade then smashed it against the ground.

Immediately, a flash of blue light filled the room and a blue ethereal being went from nephilim to nephilim, turning them to ash. Eventually, the blue being destroyed them all and appeared at Slade's side before speaking. It materialized into a small blue orb hovering beside him. "Well... that went better than I expected. I only have enough energy to take you to safety so we have to get going."

Pandora stepped forward. "Oh, I think not. We may not be able to attack the mortals but we can attack you, Agamotto. Without you they'll die down here so either way, we win."

Slade frantically looked around for a way to distract them before he heard Wanda call out to him. He turned and saw her pointing at the now-inactive cage beneath them. Understanding what she was getting at, Slade nodded before impaling Inanis into one of the runes beneath them and channeling magic into it.

Now, one thing you have to understand about runes is that they are very volatile. Any misaligned line or curve and the rune would fail. It's worse when you consider an already active run scheme. Any damage to one rune and activated the rune scheme would have disastrous consequences. Best case scenario, they would just fail to activate. Worst case, they explode. The tendency for the latter became more and more probable the more complicated the rune scheme was. And it didn't get more complicated than a 20 millennia old prison made to seal an omnipotent being.

The runes lit up but eventually, sparks started flying amongst the runes and Slade and Jean jumped off the cage as it slowly started to gather energy to what promised to be a spectacular explosion. Pandora and Lilith watched this all happen with wide eyes as Lilith screamed and yelled her anger as the exploding cage separated the two groups.

Slade turned to the ball of blue light that represented Agamotto. "They're distracted! Let's go!"

The ball of blue light bobbed up and down before opening a portal in front of them. The last thing Slade heard before passing out unconscious was a loud roar of pain that was obviously from the Leviathan that almost covered up Lilith's yell of rage.

Lilith yelled in rage as she watched the three mortal children who caused the deaths of her beloved nephilim disappear into a blue portal. Beside her, Pandora had a scowl on her face. "Well, they escaped. Let's go, Lilith. There's nothing for us here and I'd prefer not to get my clothes wet when the Leviathan blows up from the inside out."

Lilith huffed before following Pandora into a red portal. As it closed behind them, the cage exploded with incredible strength, blowing a hole in the Leviathan's chest, killing it instantly.

Pandora and Lilith appeared in an alley in another dimension and Lilith shrieked in rage before kicking a nearby trash can. "Those whelps! How could they escape us?! Have we gotten so old that some brats can get the best of us?! And just how dare those bitches turn my son against me!? When I get the chance I'm going to tear them limb from limb!"

Pandora sighed. "Calm yourself. I admit that it's annoying but it's only a minor annoyance. Our objective was achieved and you're free now and at full power."

Lilith smirked as she chuckled evilly. "Yesss... I'm back and the multiverse will tremble in remembrance of my power."

Pandora waved her off. "Yes, yes. However, what truly annoys me is that they destroyed the cage. I was planning on using the energy still stored within the cage, not to mention the runes, to break open a gate to Purgatory so we could free the Old Ones. That's impossible now."

Lilith turned to Pandora with narrowed eyes. "You think?! How are we going to manage it now?!"

Pandora smirked before starting to walk down the alley, forcing Lilith to follow. "Thankfully, I always have a back-up plan. Only a mortal or something created by mortal hands can open the gate to Purgatory. The only one of the latter that had sufficient power was your cage so that's out so we need to use a mortal."

Lilith snorted. "The only mortals with that kind of power are sorcerers and not even the most power-hungry are that stupid. Not to mention that even if they did, their patrons would quickly take back their power, making the point moot."

Pandora smiled conspiratorially. "Yes... but wizards don't need patrons to fuel their most powerful spells."

Lilith looked at her incredulously. "That's because even the most powerful wizard is barely as strong as the weakest sorcerer! The only ones that do have the power became Magi and they want nothing to do with us!"

Pandora just continued smirking. "Usually... unless we patron a wizard ourselves."

Lilith cocked an eyebrow at her. "Who would be that stupid and power-hungry to accept our patronage?"

Pandora's smirk widened. "Have you ever heard of a man called Tom Riddle?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: And cut. Chapter 5 down and out. Sorry it took so long, but I was a bit busy with other stuff. Since it took so long I have decided to show you guys the full harem list.**

**In no particular order:**

**Jean Grey/Phoenix **

**Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch**

**Emma Frost/White Queen**

**Elizabeth Braddock/Psylocke**

**Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk**

**Laura Kinney/X-23**

**Selene/Black Queen**

**Carol Danvers/Ms. Marvel**

**Brunnhilde/Valkyrie **

**Neena Thurman/Domino **

**Rita Wayword/Spiral**

**Ororo Munroe/Storm**

**Raven Darkhölme/Mystique**

**Anna Marie/Rogue**

**Jubilation Lee/Jubilee **

**Nico Minoru/Sister Grimm**

**Amora/Enchantress**

**Sooraya Qadir/Dust**

**Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow**

**Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat**

**Amara Aquilla/Magma**

**Melissa Gold/Songbird**

**Cindy Moon/Silk **

**Alejandra Blaze/Ghost Rider**

**Karla Sofen/Moonstone**

**Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman**

**Tessa/Sage**

**I am also putting up a poll on my profile for the last member, here are your options**

**Janet van Dyne/Wasp **

**Dani Moonstar**

**Karima Shapandar/Omega Sentinel**

**Any other suggestions will be taken into account.**

**As always, Read and Review!**


	7. Chapter 6: A Magical Explanation

Chapter 6: A Magical Explanation

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. All other concepts and ideas from other books or stories belong to their respective authors. No copyright infringement is intended.**

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><p>February 18th Sanctum Sanctorum, Greenwich Village<p>

Slade groaned as light entered through his bedroom window and landed on his face. "Curse you sun, my mortal enemy." mumbled Slade sleepily. He rolled over and tried to cover his face so he could go back to sleep and was drowsily glad his mattress had an Eternal Comfort Charm cast on it.

Suddenly, Slade sat up as the memories of what happened with Wanda and passing out the moment they got through the portal returned. 'Was it all a dream?' thought Slade. Then he saw Inanis in its sheath, Mir, leaning against his desk chair. 'Not a dream,' concluded Slade grimly.

Slade stretched to get the kinks out of his body before getting up and grabbing his towel and a change of clothes before going towards the hallway bathroom. He had his own bathroom but the hallway one was bigger and had a bigger tub so he could waste time soaking in it. 'No doubt Dad and the others know what happened by now and they'll probably tear me a new one. Better postpone it for as long as possible.'

Slade was so sleepy that he didn't hear the sound of the shower running or feel the humidity from the water before he entered. Standing there with her developing figure like a literal wet dream was none other than Jean Grey.

Slade froze in shock and couldn't help but have his eyes roam up from her lean, feminine legs and up to her trim waist. Slade felt himself grow hard as he saw the proof of Jean's femininity and was now certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jean was a natural red-head. His eyes continued their very pleasant journey upward toward her developing, yet still mouth-watering breasts before landing in her beautiful face. He reached her face just in time for Jean to open her eyes and notice the shirtless Slade standing there looking at her in shock. The two teenagers just stared at each other for a moment before Jean screamed and tried to cover herself with the shower curtain which had been open for some reason.

"Slade! For the love of all that's holy, knock before entering the bathroom!"

Slade quickly tried to backtrack out of the bathroom while stammering apologies only to trip and land on his ass on the hallway outside just in time for Jean to telekinetically shove the door closed. Slade just stayed on the floor, his face a neon red thanks to his blush, before the sound of chuckling reached his ears.

Slade looked toward the sound to see none other than his father standing there chuckling at the look on his face. Eventually, his chuckles ceased and he smirked down at the fallen Slade.

"Looks like Wanda was right. You are a pervert. What shame." Slade turned bright red at his teasing and tried to deny it but only succeeded in making his father laugh harder. Eventually, Slade stopped trying to deny it and just pouted causing his father to stop laughing.

Dr. Strange smiled down at his son before frowning as he remembered why he had returned home so abruptly.

"We have a lot to talk about, Slade and once all three of you are done showering and changing, your teachers and I will be awaiting you in the library. Wanda and Jean already told me a summary of what happened two days ago and I expect you to explain your actions."

Slade gulped and nodded his understanding which his father returned before walking towards the library. Before entering the library, his father stopped. "And bring your new sword as well." He then entered the library and shut the door behind him. Slade sighed and hoped they would go easy on them.

The bathroom door opened and a red-faced Jean came out with only a towel covering her body. Despite his best efforts, Slade couldn't help his eyes from looking up her beautiful legs which were abruptly cut off by the towel before anything else could be seen.

Despite her embarrassment, a part of Jean couldn't help but feel happy that he couldn't help but ogle her when he resisted Lilith's offer. It was quite an ego-booster for Jean who was naturally very shy and had never had the courage to tell Slade what she felt. Gathering her courage, Jean sent Slade a wry smile.

"Well, I guess now we're even, huh Slade?" Seeing his confused look, Jean rolled her eyes.

"I saw you naked when you changed in front of me when we went to rescue Wanda, remember? So now we're even." Jean walked toward her room with her dirty clothes following behind her in the air. She turned once she reached the door to her room and turned to Slade with a smirk. "Too bad. I was going to even the score by undressing for you but I guess you lost your chance." With that parting comment, a now red-faced Jean lost her courage and ran into her room before closing the door behind her.

Slade could only stare at her door as what she said processed in his head. 'What did she mean undress for me? That's sounds like a...' Slade started to drool at the thought of Jean giving him a strip tease and Little Slade pulsed his agreement. Then the fact that she said he lost his chance registered and he started to internally cry. 'Dammit! Why do you hate me God?! WHY?!'

An hour (and a very cold shower) later, Slade, Wanda and Jean were standing in front of the door to the library, looking at the door apprehensively. Slade and Jean locked eyes for a second and looked away blushing before returning to being apprehensive at what was to come. Wanda noticed but buried her jealousy. It was what started this whole mess in the first place and she would rather have them as friends than as nothing at all.

The three teenagers looked at each other as if trying to convince the other to open the door to no avail. None of them wanted to be the first one to enter and be the target of their teachers' ire but also knew they couldn't put it off any longer. Finally, Slade gathered his courage before opening the door and walked in with Jean and Wanda following soon after.

Sitting in front of the couch were they usually sat for Agatha's lessons was their three teachers, none of which looked happy with them. Slade nervously sat down on the couch in front of them and the girls sat on either side of him. All was silent before Slade tried to break the silence.

"Sooo... we succeeded."

His father's left eye twitched, due to anger or amusement Slade didn't know but her doubted it was the latter. His father looked at Slade sternly before angrily speaking.

"Barely and if you hadn't been so lucky you would have all DIED! Do you have ANY idea how lucky you are?! If Agamotto hadn't given you his help, if Jormungand hadn't felt like helping and if that Ulthane character hadn't stopped trying to kill you, you would have been KILLED! Why, oh why, didn't you just try to contact me or even one of your teachers? Despite what you think, Wong ALWAYS has an emergency line toward me for just this type of situation! But no, you thought you could do it on your own! You brushed with one of THE most malevolent of beings in the multiverse while it was releasing AN EVEN WORSE ONE! Not to mention fighting nephilim! If you didn't have Inanis or Mercy then you would have had no way to harm them, much less kill them!"

Jean took the chance while Strange was taking a breath to speak. "What do you mean by that? I know they were strong and powerful but they didn't seem to have much magic or anything."

Strange sighed before rubbing his temples. "Nephilim are, in their true form, beings of energy and power. This is because both of their progenitors, demons and angels, are ethereal beings. They usually take form when dealing with us but have no true form beyond a cloud of energy. The ones you fought were nephilim who had either forcefully taken control of a human body or gathered bits and pieces of dead bodies to make a new one. This is the only way they can interact with us on our plane of existence. However, this comes with drawbacks. Due to the fact that human bodies are not meant to hold such incredible power, nephilim must limit themselves while here to strictly physical abilities and minor bits of magic. If they were to push their bodies beyond what they could take or tried to use stronger spells, their bodies would be deconstructed from the force of the power and they would be forced from our plane. Even then, they can only come to our plane if summoned which I imagine was Pandora's doing. More disconcerting is how Pandora managed to enter our plane. That has never happened before..."

Agatha cleared her throat before speaking. "We'll worry about that later. Right now, I'm more interested in Slade's version of the story. We've heard Jean's and Wanda's so I think it is only right we listen to Slade's."

Slade breathed deeply before explaining what happened from his point of view. Slade understood that Agatha was enforcing her lesson of 'always take everyone's point of view into account before making a decision'. After Slade explained how they escaped Pandora and Lilith, Agatha sighed and rubbed her temples.

Agatha looked at them half in amazement and half in exasperation. "You are very lucky that Pandora and Lilith are restricted from attacking mortals directly unless challenged first. They could have easily ripped you apart with nary a thought so I hope you understand that this successful rescue mission of yours was more due to luck than any real skill. If any of those that helped you hadn't, you wouldn't be here now." Agatha sighed before looking at them sadly. "You worried us, children. When we appeared that morning and discovered you were missing, we were frantic. Do not scare me like that again. I can't take more shocks at my age."

The three teens (especially Jean and Slade) looked down guiltily at her words. Slade and Jean hadn't even thought to leave a note for their teachers explaining what happened while Wanda felt as if it was her fault for being captured. Strange cleared his throat before speaking.

"We have decided on what your punishments will be. Wanda," the aforementioned girl looked up with tears in her eyes, causing Strange to soften his tone. "It was not your fault that you were captured and many a wiser person would have fallen for the same trap. However, you must learn to not run from your problems but face them head-on. Pandora took advantage of your fears to make you leave safety. Remember, never let your fears control you lest they lead you to an early grave."

Wanda nodded her understanding and wiped her tears before Strange continued. "Your punishment will be to train with Raiza here in learning how to detect danger using all your senses and how to react according to each situation. It won't be pleasant and we will be harsh, but we are doing it for your own good."

Wanda nodded and followed a stern Raiza, who had been silent during the entire exchange, out of the library and towards the basement training room. Once she left, Agatha turned to Jean. "As for you Jean, I thought that all my training would have taught you to identify when you're being controlled mentally but it seems I've been lax due to your age. While you only have a few more months under my tutelage I'm going to make sure to pound identification of mental invasion and manipulation into your head even if it kills me... or you."

Jean paled at her last comment and shakily followed an eerily smiling Agatha out of the library and toward Jean's room where they would practice. This left Slade alone with his father. The two magic-users stayed silent for a while before the eldest broke the silence.

Stephen closed his eyes and a sad smile crossed his face. "I can't keep shielding you, can I?" Opening his eyes and seeing Slade's confused look, he continued. "I have been trying to give you as normal a life as possible so that magic didn't become your sole focus but it seems as if I'm trying to stop the inevitable. Rather than trying to shield you, I should be preparing you for the future that no doubt awaits you. I have been so focused on being a father that I've neglected my duties as your master and it almost got you killed. For that, I'm sorry, son."

Slade's eyes softened and he smiled softly. "I'm happy that you tried, Dad. Really, I am. These years as a normal kid with Jean were some of the best I ever had and they were exactly what I needed after the Void. These years helped me remember the good parts of life and if we had dove right into magic, I probably would have closed myself in it to escape what happened to me. You did great and there was no way you could have predicted what was going to happen. It just happened. It was thanks to your teachings that I survived so don't feel bad about yourself."

Strange smiled slightly and nodded. "I'm glad then." He took a deep breath before sighing. "However, you have now come into contact with forces I wish you had never come into contact with and I have no doubt consisting your relations to her, Lilith especially will not forget you and attempt to attack you at every chance. Therefore, I will have to speed up your training despite my hesitance. But first, I will have to explain the magical community."

Strange cleared his throat before beginning.

"The magical community is made of many different creatures, beings (immortal and mortal), Concepts and Ideas. The latter two are the only real way to describe beings such as Pandora and Lilith who are in reality the manifestation of a single concept or idea, most times what most people consider a sin. However, in regards to magic-users we are roughly divided into four factions: wizards, magus, magicians, and sorcerers. These four factions were formed during the time of Merlin and officially formalized in the time of his successor. Despite there being four factions of magic-users, all are ruled by the current Sorcerer Supreme who is a mix of monarch and emperor. The Sorcerer Supreme's word is law."

"I will now explain each faction from weakest to strongest. Just to you know, this is just a generalization and there are exceptions to this but I will get to that later."

"Wizards are the community into which you were born and are identified by having magical cores. Now, the magical core is described as a metaphysical orb of magical energy all wizards are born with that allows them to both use magic and replenish and store it for later use. The cores grow with them as they age and the larger the core, the more magical power the wizard has at their disposal. As a rule of thumb, wizards are born with their magical cores although there are exceptions. The magical core is different in its versatility. Wizards' cores allow them to use a larger spectrum of magical abilities than most other magic-users and with greater creativity. While we have two different spells for a fireball and a stream of fire respectively, they can turn a stream of fire into a fireball or vice versa with the same spell. The core also allows them to replenish their magical energies far quicker than other magic-users."

"However, there are downsides to having magical core. On average, most wizards are weaker than other magic-users due to having a set limit of the amount of magic they can channel. Any attempt to use magic beyond what they have available can permanently damage their core which can go so far as making them incapable of using magic ever again. They also have to depend on using wands due to their core being too unstable to use magic without a focus. While a select few can use magic without a focus, it's usually for heavy handed things such as blasting things away or conjuring fire, not for delicate things like unlocking a door."

"Wizards are under the control of the Sorcerer Supreme, like I said, but have their own form of government beneath him. That is the International Conference of Wizards or ICW for short. The ICW is sort of like the United Nations of Wizardkind and are charged with protecting the secrecy of magic for ALL magic-users. For example, if a Magus were to expose magic it would fall under the jurisdiction of wizards to correct it. There would be problems but that's politics and not connected to our discussion. Each country that has wizards has its own government which sends a representative to sit upon the ICW."

The ICW is headed by the Supreme Mugwump who is always chosen by the Sorcerer Supreme and the position is usually for life or until he or she retires. The current Supreme Mugwump is Albus Dumbledore who is also Headmaster of the premier British school of magic, Hogwarts. The sign of the Supreme Mugwump's authority is the First Blaze."

"The First Blaze is a power Merlin gained by making a deal with the Summer Queen of the Fae. No one knows how he did it but he managed to make her give him a piece of summer's power in exchange for service. She would allow him to pass on the First Blaze and if there was no current wielder, he could temporarily return to life to choose another. In return, he would serve as guardian of the Gates of the True Avalon for all eternity. Currently, the ICW is still fighting over that blood purity argument that says that magic is genetic and those born from non-magical families must have stolen it from so-called 'purebloods'. I find it funny since technically they are all descended from first-generation magicals but never mind."

"Now, the next faction is the Magus or Magi. Magi are different in that they do not possess a magical core but rather 20+ 'circuits'. Circuits are similar to a magical core but differ in several aspects. For one, you can only have one magical core but may have as many as 30 magical circuits. Another difference is that a single circuit can only perform one type of magic. For example, a magus's circuit that performs pyrokinesis cannot perform telekinesis. The magus must have an entirely different circuit for that skill. However, usually Magi have one or two types of magic and have several circuits for the same magic in order to boost the total amount of magic, or 'prana' as they call it, available for that particular skill. Another difference is that magus have a set amount of units of prana available to them at birth. Unlike with magical cores, they cannot grow or have access to any more than that. However, it is possible to boost the 'efficiency' of their circuits therefore making more with less. In other words, while at first it may take 15 units of prana to cast a fireball, with training a magus can train to make their circuits more 'efficient' and use only 5 units. This is the main reason they call it 'circuits' instead of cores."

"However, like the wizards there are downsides to this. While a magus that specialized in say thaumaturgy will be leagues better than a similarly specialized wizard, he cannot use any other magic than the one he specialized in. Therefore, the sheer versatility a wizard has usually balances out against the overwhelming power a specialized magus controls. Another downside a magus has is the way they think. Magus call what they do 'Magecraft' instead of magic because, and they are partially right, everything we do can be replicated with time and effort using purely human means. Because of this, they consider 'True Magic' to so far consist of five 'Miracles' they have discovered and disdain the rest of us for calling what we do magic. Magecraft is powered by belief and therefore, the more widespread the belief, the more powerful the magic. Since Christianity is the most widespread belief, Magecraft powered by it is currently the most powerful."

"Magi are ruled over by the Mage's Association which consists of three parts: the Clock Tower, Atlas, and the Sea of Estray. Each has its own focus but all are ruled by the three Primary Colors along with the Marshall and the Grand Magus who is currently Nicholas Flamel. The Primary Color pertains to the color that reflects their magic and the Primary Color is awarded to only the most outstanding member of that color of their generation. However, some places can remain empty for years as has the Green and Red seats since World War II when they died against Grindelwald. The Mage's Association has existed for millennia but didn't officially join the greater magic-user community till the time of Merlin and King Arthur. This is due to Arthur being the first Magus to be able to wield a Noble Phantasm and the close association between them due to this. The internal workings of politics of the Mage's Association are not known to me but I do know that they answer to the Sorcerer Supreme like all magic-users."

"The next group are the Magicians. Magicians differ from both other groups in that, like sorcerers, they lack both a magical core and circuits. While magic does tend to run in families, magicians are almost entirely 'practitioners' which are magic-users who are not born with magic but rather learn it through time and effort. Magicians are the closest in sheer power to sorcerers and some of them can equal even the strongest sorcerers. This is partially for the fact that they do not need long incantations and while not as versatile as wizards, have a large range of abilities available to them. Due to the nature of their power, magicians tend to live for centuries at a time. This is due to the fact that they earned their abilities unlike both wizards and magus. In recompense for their effort and dedication, magic grants them a long life. Wizards can live for two centuries maximum while magus can live for maybe three but due to the dangerous experiments they enact, it is a rare magus that dies from old age. There are, of course, exceptions like Nicholas Flamel and Kischur but by and by that is the norm."

"The magicians are ruled by the White Council which consists of the Merlin, the Gatekeeper, the Blackstaff and the Senior Circle. The Merlin is the highest authority and usually the most powerful magician and the position was so named due to the fact that Merlin was the one to formally create the White Council. While it had existed in some form or another before, it wasn't until Merlin that they were formally organized and their domain of influence firmly established. In honor of his achievement, they named their highest position after him."

"It should be noted that Merlin is a major point of contention between the three mentioned groups. The wizards argue that he was a wizard since he studied at Hogwarts and because wizards were, in a roundabout way, his creation and are therefore insulted that the magicians name a position after him. The magus consider him a crazy old man that somehow managed to take Arthur to become a great king. The magicians have the most respect for him and defend themselves by saying Merlin couldn't have been a wizard since he was born in the 6th century and since the first recorded magical core was in the 8th century, could not have been a wizard."

"The final and most powerful group are the Sorcerers. I, myself, am a sorcerer and we are almost all not born with magic and learn it from masters who take us as apprentices. We are the major sticking point for wizards who say that your magical blood means nothing since we have the greatest amount of sheer power of all groups and we mostly all come from non-magical families. We are also the most numerous of all the factions for that very reason. However, we do have our drawbacks in that the most powerful of us usually have patrons where the majority of our power comes from. I am very powerful even without my patrons but only as powerful as say, a member of the Senior Circle or a Primary Color. With my patrons, the only one that can match me is my master, the Sorcerer Supreme himself."

"Out of all the groups, we sorcerers are the ones that lack an established rule of government and this is due to our goal."

"Tell me, Slade. Do you not wonder why there are four groups instead of just combining them into one?"

"It is because each group has their own domain of responsibility and jurisdiction."

"Wizards are charged with the protection of the secret of magic from non-magic users and have almost absolute power in regards to this. There are exceptions of course, such as the Sorcerer Supreme, those taken in by sorcerers as their apprentice, and those whom the Sorcerer Supreme allows to waive the law but for the most part, as long as wizards do their job and maintain the secret, we do not interfere with their internal affairs."

"Magi are charged with the advancement of magic itself as well as the realm of Alchemy. It is the magus' job to catalogue and preserve all forms of magic as well as seek advancements of current magical knowledge. While the other groups can also advance magic, it is not their main purpose like the magus's. Also, the Mage's Association can lay claim to a copy of all magical discoveries from all four groups unless they are named family magics. This is another point of contention between wizards and magus, since the former have so many Wizarding families that refuse to part with their family magics. Needless to say, maintaining the peace between the factions is another of the Sorcerer Supreme's jobs."

"Magicians are charged with enforcing the seven laws of magic. The seven laws are:

1) Thou shall not kill without reason through the use of magic,

2) Thou shall not transform another,

3) Thou shall not invade the mind of another,

4) Thou shall not enthrall another,

5) Thou shall not reach beyond the borders of life,

6) Thou shall not swim against the Currents of Time, and

7) Thou shall not seek beyond the Outer Gates.

Each law is mostly clear cut and almost all enforced, however, there are exceptions."

"For example, the greatest argument between factions was between the White Council and the ICW over the creation of the Killing Curse. In truth, it was a direct violation of the First Law and there was no way around it. Wizards had willfully created a spell with the express purpose to kill. Wizards argued that it was to be used to take down animals and sick dragons easier but that argument fell through after it was used to kill a person for the first time. After that, the wizards had no choice but to declare it an Unforgivable and ban its use against humans. The White Council tried to ban it completely but eventually the Sorcerer Supreme intervened and changed it so its existence was allowed among wizards as long as it wasn't used against ANY sentient being."

"Another exception is the second law. Human Transfiguration is taught in Wizarding School and despite being against the Second Law, they allow it as long as it's strictly self-Transfiguration. Any unwilling Human Transfiguration against another person is considered a violation of Second Law and shall be dealt with accordingly. The other laws are mostly universally followed and the White Council is allowed absolute control in regards to those who violate them."

"The final faction, the sorcerers, are under the direct control of the Sorcerer Supreme and are charged with protecting our dimension from any and all forms of mystical attack. This is the reason that we are so numerous and powerful and why we have patrons. While gods and celestial beings cannot directly interfere, they use us sorcerers as their conduits to help defend our dimension."

"This is the state of affairs in regards to magic-users in the present time."

Slade sat back and absorbed everything he had been told. He had read about several of the things mentioned but he never realized it was organized into four different yet similar factions. Hearing about it now and realizing the purpose of each faction, it made sense why they were so different in terms of philosophy. However, one thing confused him.

"What are the Outer Gates?" asked Slade.

Strange turned serious at his question and sighed. "That is a great mystery, son. The Outer Gates aren't exactly gates per say. How can I explain this?" Strange rubbed his temples before speaking. "You know that we exist in a multiverse, correct? And that there are thousands probably millions of parallel universes out there? Well, imagine the walls between the universes as... layers. Layers that are all added together to form the Outer Gates. Each new universe adds another layer to these Gates. What's on the other side of the Gates? No one knows. However, I have my theories."

Slade leaned forward excitedly. "Well?"

Strange chuckled. "I believe that the True Heaven and Hell lie beyond the Outer Gates. There is evidence to support this, the most damning of them is that Pandora and Lilith come from beyond the Outer Gates."

Slade sat back in shock at this before gathering his composure. "So... basically the Law says we're forbidden from reaching beyond them, right?"

Strange nodded. "And from making deals with anything from beyond them. We have noticed that every time a universe is destroyed, the Gates become weaker. We think that if enough universes were destroyed, the Gates would collapse and God only knows what would happen then."

Slade processed this before looking up at his father. "Why are you telling me all this, dad? It's interesting and I'm glad you are but what does it have to do with my training?"

Strange smirked before explaining. "When you first came to me, I knew you must be a wizard from what you'd told me. After all, wizards are the only faction where magic runs in the family and are stupid enough to leave a child with near-strangers and never check up on him. Imagine my surprise when you learned how to do a basic spell that only sorcerers are capable of. Many wizards have tried to use sorcerer's spells only to either die from trying to use too much magic or completely fail. Yet there you were capable of that very feat. Therefore, I called in my master to check you over to see the cause of this phenomenon."

Slade looked thoughtful before a look of realization came to his face. "Wait... you mean that crotchety old man that visited me soon after you magically adopted me was the Sorcerer Supreme?!"

Strange nearly broke down laughing at his description of the most powerful sorcerer alive but managed to keep it to a few chuckles. "Yes, that was my master, the Ancient One. Anyway, he checked you over and we found something completely fascinating. Now most wizard's magical cores are, metaphysically speaking, about as big as their heart. The more powerful wizards have cores as big as their chest, like Dumbledore and that upstart Tom Riddle. However, your core is literally your entire body. As in your entire body absorbs and channels magic much like a sorcerer when he's performing a powerful spell.

"To make things more interesting, your core has almost 25 divisions much like circuits, meaning you could make each one made for single type of magic but still be able to call on the magic of the other divisions to power a spell from a single one, meaning you don't possess that weakness. And since your entire body is your core, you can use every single sorcerer spell and even channel the power of celestial beings much like sorcerers do their patrons'. You are, quite literally, capable of learning every single magic out there with all of the benefits each faction enjoys out of their brand of magic-use."

Slade looked shocked at the revelation but then it did make sense. He had never had trouble using Wizarding spells or sorcerer spells and only vaguely noticed that Wizarding spells use less power but needed more focus to cast.

Slade turned to his father with a questioning expression. "So... does that mean I can use all variations of magic without problem?"

His father shrugged slightly. "Probably. But you will, of course, still have to learn the magic first. Each faction has different philosophies revolving around the use of magic and those philosophies affect how to perform the magic. The bond between wand and wizard, the 'Magecraft' of a magus, and the control of a magician, all affect a spell's performance. Remember, in the world of magic belief affects whether a spell will work or not."

Slade nodded in understanding. "I understand. So who's gonna teach me?"

Strange's smile suddenly took a slightly evil undertone as he chuckled, causing Slade to get shivers down his spine. "Oh, that will be me, son. Don't worry... The pain will eventually fade...maybe."

Slade could only pale in fear.

* * *

><p>Slade groaned as he limped down the hallway towards his room. His father had been completely brutal, spending the entire day with Slade tearing apart every form of magic Slade knew and pointing out its flaws.<p>

His purple flare had many advantages; it was versatile since Slade could make it act like normal fire and burn or become solid and constrict his enemy. It could also be used in many different forms of attack, from whips to beams to even constructing shields. Another advantage was that it didn't have the weakness to water normal fire has. However, it had just as many drawbacks.

The magic only burns as hot and as quickly as normal fire so there was no advantage to using it compared to normal fire since it takes more energy to use. Its advantage as a constricting magic is also lowered by the fact that he had to maintain a steady stream of magic to it so it wouldn't disappear. The shields of purple flare also require more magic to create and is slower to form than normal telekinetic force shields.

All in all, while creative and strong, the purple flare magic takes more energy to use than simply knowing more spells that have the same effect. Rather than drop the style though, his father had told him to study other spells that have an effect similar to the purple flare's in order to improve upon its performance and lower its magical cost. He would do this by incorporating elements of those spells into the purple flare style and therefore, make it even stronger.

Slade groaned as he entered his room, only to be brought up short at the sight before him.

Lying on his bed was none other than Jean Grey. She was currently wearing only some blue shorts and a red tank top. She had her eyes closed when he entered but cracked an eye open at the sound of Slade entering the room. Jean groaned before sitting up with a wince. "Your teacher work you over too? Wanda's already asleep. Raiza-sensei was especially brutal to her and she'll have bruises on her bruises for days."

Slade looked Jean over and saw that she didn't have any marks or bruises on her and sent her a questioning look.

Jean winced as she put a hand to her temple. "Aunt Agatha made me fight her in the astral plane for hours before forcing me to defend myself telepathically. My body's fine but my brain feels like I've been using it as a punching bag."

Slade chuckled but stopped when his ribs started to hurt. Slade looked at Jean and shrugged before grabbing a change of clothes and entering his bathroom for a shower.

His personal bathroom was just a toilet, a sink and a shower stall. His father had told him that if he wanted more, he would have to change it using magic. It was meant as an incentive so he could study more non-combat orientated forms of magic. It worked in a way since the desk where he studied in front of the window, the desk chair, and the extra dresser had all been conjured by him. However, he still wasn't proficient enough to cast an Expansion Charm within the mansion without it conflicting with the mansion's wards. That was still out of his reach.

After a quick shower and changing into his sleepwear (which was only a pair of black shorts and nothing else), Slade left the bathroom to find Jean dozing on his bed. Now slightly refreshed, Slade couldn't keep his eyes from wandering down Jean's body and notice that the exercise over the years had given her a body most girls twice her age would die for. Her legs were lean and firm without detracting from her feminine curves and she had no trace of puppy fat anywhere. A part of Slade commented that it seemed as if all the lost fat had transferred to her chest area since she was already well-developed despite being only 14.

Jean looked up at him when he placed his dirty clothes in the hamper and laid down on his bed beside her. The mental exercises with Agatha had caused Jean to lose a lot of her inhibitions for a time and so she felt no hesitation in rolling over and snuggling into Slade's chest while placing her left arm over his chest.

Slade, on the other hand, was only physically exhausted and was well aware of how they looked right now, especially since he had instinctively placed his left hand on Jean's hip. However, he was too tired to make a protest even if he wanted to and only drew her closer to him. He inhaled the flowery scent that Jean seemed to naturally release and started to unconsciously thread his right hand through her beautiful red hair.

Jean slowly realized the position they were in at some point after she started to rub his chest with her left hand. However, rather than pull away she just ignored it and kept rubbing his chest. She couldn't help but admire the firm muscles underneath her hand and started to trace his growing six-pack while mentally thanking Raiza for making them exercise so much so they wouldn't depend on their powers. If Slade's body was any indication, it had many benefits outside of combat as well.

Slade shivered as he felt Jean's touch and the lower part of him seemed to understand the significance of what they were doing before his brain did, as it started to stiffen. Slade inhaled deeply of Jean's scent and placed a kiss on the top of Jean's head. However, Slade stiffened when he felt Jean reciprocate and place a kiss on Slade's chest.

Jean didn't know where she got the courage; maybe it was because she too mentally tried to be afraid, maybe it was because they were alone and there was no chance of Wanda interrupting them or maybe it was because it had finally sunk in that they could have died rescuing Wanda and Jean would never have had the chance to tell Slade how she felt. Whatever it was, Jean continued to kiss up Slade's chest even as she felt him react underneath her. When she reached his left shoulder she reached up and started to suckle on his earlobe as she felt Slade's erection when she placed her left leg over him. The fact that he was getting turned on by her kisses alone excited and empowered her and gave her the courage to straddle him.

Slade moaned as Jean straddled him, causing their sexes to come into contact although there was still two barriers of clothing separating them from full contact. Slade looked up at Jean and saw her eyes glittering with lust and desire even as she started to rub against his erection. Taking her in as she was now, Slade could honestly say she never looked more beautiful. Her hair looked closer to fire with the light behind her and her eyes shone with wonder at the new experience as well as lust. She looked like a goddess and infinitely more attractive than Lilith in every way. While he was capable of resisting Lilith, he was putty in Jean's hands and both knew it.

Jean moaned as she continued to rub against Slade's clothed erection, her eyes closing for a second as her arousal spiked. She opened her eyes when she felt Slade place his hands on her ass and grind into her harder, causing her pleasure to skyrocket. Unable to resist anymore, Jean lowered her face and kissed him.

Slade was at first surprised at her impulsive kiss despite what they were currently doing, but quickly reciprocated and the two continued to snog even as their bottom halves continued to grind on each other. Jean tasted like something completely unique and nothing could compare to her taste. Her taste instantly became Slade's new favorite and he couldn't get enough as they continued to kiss. Despite the passion between them, the kiss was relatively chaste, no tongue or anything. However, their bottom halves showed that the kiss was having its effect since they were grinding on each other fervently and it was obvious both were close to climax.

Jean moaned into the kiss as she felt her climax approach. A part of her was mortified that here she was basically having dry sex with Slade without even going on a date with him first. However, a larger part told the other part to shut up and that they had basically been dating for years so there was nothing wrong with this. Jean broke the kiss as she felt her climax approaching quickly and breathed into Slade's ear. "H-Slade... I-I'm g-going to...!"

Slade couldn't answer as his own climax was fast approaching as well and all he could concentrate on was the feel of Jean's clothed rubbing against his own. He was breathing just as heavily as Jean and barely had the strength to continue to haphazardly thrust and rub against her. Slade realized that Jean had cum when she stopped thrusting and almost stabbed against his erection even as his shorts became slightly wet. Luckily, Jean silenced her screaming moan into his shoulder so they wouldn't be heard. The realization that she had climaxed drove Slade over the edge and he thrust against her one more time before making a mess in his boxers and falling limp.

The two teenagers stayed in their position as they regained their breath. Their climax had robbed them of all coherent thought, leaving them with goofy grins on their faces. They started to kiss once more, this time much more chastely and lovingly than their first kisses. Their kiss slowly broke off as they regained coherent thought after their climax.

Jean, ever the shy one, was the first to realize the full extent of their actions and promptly turned bright red in embarrassment. Despite this, all she did was sit up so she was once again straddling Slade and look away. She couldn't believe what she just did! Now Slade would think she was some kind of slut or something! But she just couldn't help herself. The long days worrying about his condition followed by his catching a glimpse of her naked (she clearly remembered the prominent bulge in his pants when he saw her and that had only heightened her arousal), plus the long day of mental battle had completely destroyed her inhibitions and shy demeanor. That plus him lying down beside her shirtless as if it was nothing special had made it impossible for her to resist anymore. Over a year of lustful thoughts of him had come to head tonight and despite her fears of him thinking her a slut, she couldn't bring herself to regret it.

Slade had also realized the implications of their act but despite Jean's fears, he didn't think badly of her. He had also been strongly attracted to her for over a year and the long training sessions where they ended up barely clothed and full of sweat hadn't helped lower his attraction. If anything, they had heightened it. The only thing that he was wondering was what this made them. Were they dating or simple friends with benefits? Was she attracted to him in a purely physical manner or was there an emotional one as well? Slade's heart hurt at the thought that it would be only the former although it wouldn't stop him from trying to form an emotional one as well.

Jean looked down at Slade and bit her lip. "Um... well..."

Slade smiled at Jean as she seemed unable to form words. Rather than try to talk, however, Slade drew her in and gave her another kiss.

Jean melted into the kiss and happily reciprocated. They continued like this for a while before they broke it and Jean spoke. "That was...wow."

Slade gave her a cheeky grin. "The kiss or... before?"

Jean blushed and smiled shyly. "Both."

They moved so that Jean was lying on top of him with her head on his chest while Slade once again began placing his fingers through her hair. They were silent for a moment before Slade spoke. "So... what does this make us?"

Jean bit her lip as she tried to answer and moved up his body so they were looking each other in the eye. "Well... we aren't... just friends anymore. I... I like you Slade. I've liked you for a while and there's no way we can go back to being friends after this. But... I'm going to be leaving to Xavier's in three months and... I don't want us to start dating only to have to break up when I leave. It would hurt too much."

Until that moment, Slade hadn't been sure what Jean was feeling cast the same fearsome shadow in her heart that Slade felt in his. But he saw the pain surface and he knew. The two teens gazed at each other, face-to-face, and saw the vast, impending hurt that awaited them reflected in the other's eyes.

"Too late," whispered Slade softly.

Something else surfaced in Jean's expression: a fiery determination with which she faced down the nephilim, Lilith and Pandora and allowed her to stay at Slade's side even when faced against horrors that made grown men tremble. Jean rolled them so she was on the bottom, pulling Slade atop her with agile strength, making Slade prop himself on his arms atop her. "Then let's make it worthwhile," answered Jean fiercely.

Slade did his best to oblige.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: As Always Read And Review.**


	8. Chapter 7: A Heart's True Reflection

Chapter 7: A Heart's Reflection

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><p><strong>Sanctum Sanctorum, Greenwich Village<strong>

Slade's eyebrows furrowed as looked over his self-made map as he tried to locate where Ulthane's dimension could possibly be. It was a large self-made picture of Yggdrasil and the dimensions connected to each of its "branches". Yet despite extensive research, Slade was still no closer to finding where Ulthane could be located.

It had been two months since they had rescued Wanda as well as what happened between Jean and him and a lot had changed in that time.

In regards to the group's abilities, they had all drastically improved. Slade had no idea what Wanda or Jean were learning from Agatha during their private lessons but everyone was improving steadily. However, out of the three Slade had made the most improvement.

Slade had quickly realized something during his training sessions with his father. Usually, the sorcerer who strikes first controls the flow of the battle. It was for this reason that despite having more powerful spells and rituals at their disposal, in battle sorcerers depended on the less powerful but faster spells like mystic bolts or one word activation spells in order to fight. More powerful spells required longer incantations and hand movements to cast and one could cast several less powerful spells in the time it takes to cast one powerful one.

Knowing this, Slade had focused on the Magus skill of Reinforcement.

Reinforcement is the skill of pushing the basis to the utmost. It is the foundation of all Magecraft that enhances the existence of the target of reinforcement by pouring prana or magic into it. It is the same as adding something to an object that is already complete, in which case failure means the target will receive it as a poison. Success requires a good grasp of the inner structure to fill openings with prana. Reinforcing the purpose of existence of an object would be things like increasing the sharpness of a knife, the nourishment of food, or in the case of a living creature, physical strength and durability.

Slade was learning Reinforcement in order to use it on himself in order to increase his speed, physical strength and durability. Through long hours of trial and error, Slade had come to a tentative hypothesis as to how Reinforcement works in regards to the human body.

Self-Reinforcement works by enhancing the basis of each muscle, bone and organ of the body. By doing this, everything is enhanced into a sort of 'super-mode' until you reach the absolute peak of human possibility. This wasn't like Captain America which was the epitome of current human perfection. But rather the peak of human possibility. This allows magus to push themselves beyond the body's limits and into the realm of superhuman power. However, each fiber has its own upper limit of prana one could send into it in order to enhance it. Pushing beyond that upper limit only succeeds in damaging that fiber rather than improve it. For this reason, magi who use self-reinforcement can only send enough prana through their body equal to the fiber with lowest upper limit in their body. In other words, if the arm fibers can only accept 20 units of prana although the legs could take 30, the magi can only send 20 units of prana through their body without causing damage.

Slade had found a loophole to this rule.

Instead of considering the entire body a single unit through which you channel prana, Slade got the idea to consider each and every single fiber of the body as a separate unit. By doing this, Slade could enhance each fiber to their upmost without overcompensating to the other fibers and damaging them. The problem was that this took not only a masterful knowledge of human anatomy but a lot of trial and error to know each and every fiber's upper limit and cataloging it. It doesn't help that this upper limit is constantly changing since he is going through puberty at the moment and they still hadn't gone through their final development yet. To make things worse, it takes a masterful amount of control of one's magic in order to be able to partition one's magic to only send a certain amount of prana to each muscle fiber, organ, bone, etc. All in all, the idea alone, if successfully implemented, is something that would make a normal mage into a Legend.

For this reason alone, Slade was determined to master it.

His eidetic memory helped immensely in this since he only had to conduct a trial once to remember the feeling of sending that amount of prana to a certain fiber and its results. It also made learning the entire human anatomy from skeletal to muscular much easier than it would have been if he didn't have perfect recall. His father had told him he would probably be the only one capable of mastering his version of self-reinforcement due to his inherent talents but Slade made a mental note to someday publish a lecture in one of the Magus magical journals on how to do it.

However, that had only been one part of his training. Slade had been learning hundreds of spells as well as thousands of ways to apply each one both in combat and in daily life. It seemed like Slade's dad was taking full advantage of his eidetic memory and teaching him as much as possible at once before engaging him in a fight. The idea was to force Slade to apply what he learned in lightning-quick decisions such as combat so he wouldn't freeze trying to think of what spell to use.

The end result was that Slade now had a constant array of spells protecting him at all times as well as quite a large arsenal of one word spells at his fingertips. His father wasn't very good at elemental spells so Slade was mostly left to experiment that on his own. The one exception was when it came to wind which Raiza was guiding him to learn.

Slade thought back on when Raiza told him the reasons behind mastering the earth element.

* * *

><p><strong>Flashback<strong>

"What?!"

Raiza just gave Slade a stern look at his outburst. "You heard me, Slade. Inanis is not made for you."

Slade frowned at his statement. "But... it is meant for me. It chose me."

Raiza sighed and rubbed his temples. "I didn't say it wasn't meant for you to wield. I meant it doesn't suit you. Swords like that are meant for thrusting and cutting and requires a lot of upper body strength to wield effectively. To tell the truth, those kind of swords are meant for one-on-one fights against another knight where the physically strongest and with the most skill prevails. You, on the other hand, are meant for speed and precision much like a katana. This is why I approved of your choice of training to use one. It matched you."

Slade frowned as he looked down at Inanis in his hand. Slade had to grudgingly agree with Raiza. For the last half hour, Slade had tried to use the same style he'd learned to wield a tanto in using Inanis to disastrous effect. Inanis simply wasn't meant for that style. It was too heavy and had no sleek momentum or form in order to make high speed cuts.

Slade sighed. "Then what do you recommend? I won't toss away Inanis simply because it doesn't fit my style. If necessary, I'll learn another one so I can use it in a way that fits me along with using a katana, which by the way, I haven't given up on learning to use."

Raiza frowned in thought before nodding. "In that case, I'll teach you the basic katas on how to wield a broadsword. I only know the basics so you'll have to invent your own style or find another teacher. I would recommend the former because of the secondary thing I have to teach you."

Slade cocked an eyebrow. "What is it?"

Raiza sighed. "If you insist on wielding Inanis you'll have to find a way to disguise it. Your father already told me that the sword is too powerful to cast an enchantment over to hide its form. However, I was looking over the history of mages and found something interesting."

Slade looked interested and impatiently waved for him to continue.

Raiza smirked at Slade's impatience. Slade loved to hear about the accomplishment of previous mages. "There was once a great warrior that held a magnificent sword. The sword was supposedly powerful enough that all the warrior's enemies would recognize it. This was a disadvantage because the warrior's enemies would be able to recognize the owner through the sword's unique appearance. For this reason, the warrior created a Bounded Field of earth that hid the appearance of the blade and in doing so, the identity of the warrior."

Slade frowned when he saw where this was going. "And you want me to recreate it, right?" Raiza nodded and Slade's frown deepened. "But... earth is my weakest element. I can barely use even basic earth spells. I have no idea why when I can use lightning, fire and wind like a natural and even water aren't that hard for me to learn."

Raiza nodded. "Yes, I have a theory about that."

Slade looked up at him in surprise. "Really? I didn't know you knew a lot about magic."

Raiza smirked. "I don't. However, before I was made a vampire I was a samurai. Samurai are expected to know philosophy so that we would not always be warriors in times of peace. Medieval Japanese philosophers thought that everyone had an affinity toward a certain element more than the others. Their affinity had to do with their beliefs and way of life."

Raiza cleared his throat and became serious. "For fire, there was that Breath of Flame, which believed that courage and friendship would triumph over all else. For wind, your favored element, there was the Eloquence of Wind, which believed that a single, silent cut from the shadows was all that was needed to triumph. For water, there was the Fluidity of Water, which believed in flowing around problems until being in an advantageous position to ruthlessly crush your enemy till there was nothing left. For earth, there was the Resolve of Earth, thinking that the best offense is an impenetrable defense and that the best way to win is to outlast your opponent. For lightning, there was the Truth of Thunder, which believed that if you strike fast, hard and for the right reasons, you will always strike true."

Raiza stood tall and looked Slade straight in the eye. "Each element was believed to belong to a certain class of warrior. Fire was the element of the samurai, who believed that through courage we could overcome any hardship. Water was for the strategists and monks who flow around their enemy until viciously striking at the enemy's weak point until nothing was left. Earth was for the shield users like the Ancient Greek hoplite, who believed that the way to victory was by outlasting the enemy until they made a mistake. Lightning, was meant for knights, who often fought alone against superior odds for justice and usually struck hard, fast and precisely. Wind, your element, was meant for the ninja, who fought from the shadows and for the highest bidder. They didn't care who the target of the attack was as long as it was a one-shot kill."

Slade's eyebrows furrowed. "So... because I don't believe the same thing as hoplites, I can't wield earth effectively?"

Raiza nodded. "That is my belief, yes."

Slade looked exasperated. "Then that doesn't make any sense!"

Raiza shook his head. "You misunderstand. The element you have an affinity for has nothing to do with your profession or way of fighting. It has to do with your beliefs! Your body is made for the katana and that way of fighting, your beliefs are those of a knight. You fight only for justice and when you do, you strike hard and fast. Do you think all knights had the same beliefs? People like Lancelot, who betrayed king and country for an unfaithful wife's skirts? Or that ninja samurai like Hattori Hanzo believed in working for the highest bidder? It is strange that your body is made for ninja like movements when your beliefs are in line with knights but not impossible. The proof that your beliefs are in line with knights is in your hand. Why else would you be able to use the blade naming you the knight of Void?"

Slade looked down at Inanis and sighed. "Anyway, how does that affect my being able to use earth?"

Raiza smirked. "Because, you attempt to use earth like you would use lightning, fire or wind. Earth isn't meant for justice. It is meant to be controlled and mastered. It is meant to be manipulated since earth is all around us at all times. Once you understand that, wielding wind will be much easier."

Slade nodded thoughtfully. "Alright. Then let's get started." Slade frowned thoughtfully. "By the way... who was the warrior who created it?"

Raiza smirked in amusement. "The one who created was a sorcerer named Arthila, otherwise known later in life as King Arthur."

Slade mulled over the information until something processed in his head. "Wait! King Arthur had magic?!"

**Flashback end**

* * *

><p>After getting over the shock that the most famous king in history was in reality a sorcerer, Raiza began helping him master earth enough to be able to recreate Invisible Earth. There had been some progress and Slade could compress ten layers of earth over Inanis now. However, in order to refract light enough so Inanis wouldn't be visible Slade needed to compress at least 20 layers of earth. Until he could use Invisible Earth instinctively, Slade was forbidden from using Inanis outside of the mansion for fear of it being recognized.<p>

That brought Slade back to the present. Raiza had already taught him the basic katas on how to use a broadsword, leaving Slade to have to create his own style using Inanis. The downside to Raiza teaching Slade the basics of using a broadsword was that it gave Raiza the idea to give all three of them basic skills in all manner of weaponry.

The girls still hadn't completely forgiven him for that.

Slade had also been training his upper body so that his base strength would increase, giving him more of a boost when he used reinforcement. This is due to planning on creating a fighting style using Inanis based on speed rather than strength. Since Inanis weighs more than a standard katana, he would need more strength to swing it quickly.

Plus Jean really liked the visual effects of him getting more upper body strength.

Just as he was thinking that, a pair of hands wrapped around his waist from behind causing Slade to smile. Most people would have been surprised, especially since he hadn't heard the person come in. But Slade had been around this person for so many years that he could sense her even if she was on the other side of the planet.

"Hey there, handsome. What are you working on that's got you so frustrated?"

Slade turned around to look into the eyes of his... well, Slade wasn't exactly sure what to classify Jean as. While he and Jean weren't technically dating, everyone who saw them together considered them a couple, even perfect strangers. Neither of the two were the kind to like to go out on dates in public and therefore they spent most of their time together in one of their rooms either making out or simply being together. They also made sure that they didn't exclude Wanda when they weren't being intimate and made sure she didn't feel like a third wheel.

There had been quite a few repeats of the activities that brought them together. They were mostly done at night when they were alone in his room and it had gotten late due to their studying. To Slade's surprise, Jean was usually the one to initiate them and Slade quickly found out that there was two sides to Jean. The shy, intelligent almost bookworm-like girl that she showed to most people in public and the kinky little minx that she showed to Slade alone in private.

Wanda had been outwardly supportive of their 'relationship' but Slade and Jean made sure to never kiss or anything while she was around in order to not make her uncomfortable.

Slade and Jean hadn't gone all the way yet and Slade wasn't in any hurry to. Jean had just turned 15 a week ago and Slade turned 15 on the 23rd of April so they were still young for that.

However, that didn't stop them from doing everything short of that. It turned out that in private, Jean was very kinky and willing to try new things. While there had been no penetration, the two had become quite adept at oral sex. They had found, to Jean's joy, that serpent tongue had many applications in the bedroom.

Slade smiled at Jean and drew her into a kiss, which she eagerly reciprocated. "Hey beautiful. I was just frustrated because I still haven't figured out where Ulthane's dimension is located. His clues tell us that it's somewhere on Yggdrasil of the Viking mythology, but not where. It's frustrating because I feel like its staring me straight in the face most of the time."

Jean smiled gently. "You need to relax, Slade. The answer will probably come to you once you do." She looked around the room with an amused eye. "Considering the state of this place, I doubt you've relaxed once since we returned."

Slade could only grin sheepishly as he looked at the state of his workroom.

When it became clear that Slade needed his own work place to study and experiment his magic and runes, Strange had taught Slade how to connect two different rooms through a portal. Once he had mastered it, Slade had separated one of the basement rooms that was in disuse as his workplace and connected the door to his room. It worked by making an identical door appear on a wall in his room. But rather than open up to air as it should, it was a portal that transferred the person to Slade's workroom.

It was a complicated piece of magic that bent time, space and perception to work and so was considered a high tier level spell. Usually Slade wouldn't have the skill to pull it off but he made up for it by overloading the spell a bit. Since magic was semi-sentient and knew what the caster wanted, it could fill in the gaps of his knowledge if he put enough power into it as long as he knew the basics.

Since then, Slade had spent a lot of time in his workroom both with Jean and Wanda, the latter more than the former. This was due to Wanda actually being capable of magic and so could help Slade in some of his projects. Jean helped by being the one he bounced ideas off since Jean had almost as much theoretical knowledge of magic as Slade and added a new viewpoint to his problems.

However, despite being a genius, Slade was still a boy and tended to be a little... forgetful about basic things like restraint.

Slade looked around at the countless pieces of paper with runes schemes drawn on them attached to the walls with a label over it describing its use. While eidetic memory allowed him to remember every single rune he'd ever seen if he'd seen it only once, it didn't help him master using runes. Technically, Slade was a Rune Expert right now due to his sheer knowledge of Runes alone. However, to be considered a Rune Master, Slade had to create at least 5 original and powerful rune schemes. Slade's eidetic memory couldn't help him in that regard beyond helping him remember previously seen rune schemes and so Slade had to be creative.

The rune schemes he'd made so far were all original but very basic at the moment. He had created dozens of advanced runic schemes and, like any self-respecting mage, the very best had been destroyed so that the only copy of them existed inside his head where he would never forget them. Mages were very protective of their work and only ever shared it with their successors or apprentices. Slade had been willing to share them with his adoptive father but he had refused, saying he didn't study runes in as much depth as Slade so everything beyond the basics would probably go over his head.

As Slade looked at the papers along the walls, he saw various half-completed transmutation circles next to them.

Slade had begun studying alchemy due to the similarity it had to runes. Both required drawing schemes or circles in order to work, and both changed something once activated.

The difference lay in the concepts behind them. Runes are basically a written idea which can be used to cause a certain reaction either alone or in a scheme while transmutation circles both transfer energy and give instructions to initiate a specific change in the environment once magic is run through it. Similar effects but different ways to go about it.

Slade's favorite branches of magic so far where runes and alchemy. This was due to the fact that mages had no way to gain an advantage in these branches. Unlike the other branches of magic where one could inherent a certain affinity toward it of your ancestors had a talent in that branch, both runes and alchemy did not have that. Despite what people thought, there was no genetic quirk that allowed one to instinctively know runes or how to draw a transmutation circle.

While some magus families like the von Einzbern passed on knowledge of alchemy through their Thaumaturgical Crest, that didn't make the inheritor any better than someone who learned it from scratch. In fact, it usually made them worse since they became lazy and didn't try to learn the spells inscribed in the Crest themselves, instead relying on the Crest's wealth of knowledge. Alchemists that learned from scratch also learned what not to do when performing alchemy as well as certain tricks of the trade due to their years of study. Furthermore, inheritors of Thaumaturgical Crests also picked up their weaknesses. For example, if the previous user of the Crest all tended to use alchemy mostly to transform earth into what they wanted and eschewed transforming other elements, then the inheritor would probably pick up that same habit. This left a weakness for others to exploit that someone who spent years learning through trial and error wouldn't.

Runes was much the same and it was probably for this reason that mages looked down on the two branches. Typical mage laziness prevented most from actually wanting to work for their skills and simply expected things to come to them on a silver platter. This was probably caused by living most of their lives where they can get anything with a simple spell. Dr. Strange hated that laziness and so had made a rule that they were forbidden from using magic for anything but training and had to do stuff like picking up their rooms by hand.

It was for this reason that Slade groaned as he saw the mess of papers with half-completed transmutation circles and runic schemes as well several drawn on the floor using chalk. He couldn't leave it as is and they were forbidden from using their powers to clean it up. The first time they had heard the rule, the three of them thought they could use them anyway and just make sure their teachers never found out. However, Dr. Strange wasn't a master sorcerer on par with the Sorcerer Supreme for nothing and had caught them before the first spell had left Slade's lips.

Needless to say, the punishment afterwards had taught them to never break any of his rules again.

Slade turned to Jean with a winning smile. "Jean, my beautiful red-haired goddess... help me?"

Jean just rolled her eyes and gave him an amused smile before nodding. The unofficial couple spent the next hour picking up the workroom, only stopping now and then to make out a bit before continuing. Once they were done, Jean pushed Slade onto a chair, straddled him and then engaged him in a heavy make out session. They stopped about half an hour later, Jean still straddling him with a small blush on her face.

"That never gets old," whispered Jean. She seemed to sense something and got off Slade. "Come on, Wanda's on her way. We were going to help you finish that project of yours, right?"

Slade nodded his head as he straightened himself up. He had asked Wanda and Jean to help him with his projects to see if they had any ideas on how to use runes and alchemy in battle. The problem with the two disciplines that caused many mages to abandon it was the fact that it was almost impossible to use in battle. Alchemy required the use of transmutation circles to use and one couldn't exactly stop to draw one in the middle of a fight. Runes had the same problem and was even worse because a misdrawn rune could have disastrous consequences.

Past users went around this problem by using gloves or other clothing with pre-drawn transmutation arrays and runes and only activated them when they needed it. Dr. Strange's Cloak of Levitation was one such example of an article of clothing with runes inscribed into it for a predetermined effect.

However, Slade didn't likes this idea since if the clothes were damaged in some way, the runes and transmutation arrays would be lost. For this reason, Slade wanted their opinion to see if they could think of any other way to use them. Wanda especially always had many good ideas on thought of ways to use magic.

Just then, there was a knock on the door that lead to his room and Slade couldn't help but roll his eyes. "You can come in, Wanda. We've been waiting for you for a while."

The door opened, letting a blushing Wanda in. "Sorry. Just didn't want to... interrupt anything." Realizing how that could be interpreted, Wanda waved her hands in denial. "I-I mean, like if you were doing an important transmutation array or experiment or something not... you know... that."

Slade and Jean were blushing at the unintended innuendo because a few minutes before they were in fact doing exactly what she thought they were doing. However, both fought their blushes down and Slade spoke. "Well... anyway, I wanted your opinions on a problem I'm having."

The three friends all sat down at the circular table with chairs that Slade conjured. Slade then went on to explain his problem with runes and alchemy in battle and the ways others had gone around the problem. Jean became pensive as she tried to think of a solution while Wanda scrunched up her face in thought. Slade couldn't help but think that Wanda looked cute like that.

Jean was the first to speak. "Well... why don't you put it on your clothes like the others and put a sort of indestructible rune on it so they won't break?"

Slade shook his head. "The problem with that is that transmutation circles and arrays work by transmuting the surface that the circle is on. So if I put it on any part of my clothing that's not gloves then I would have to make that circle touch what I'm transmuting to make it work. That would be... awkward to say the least. I also run the danger of trying to transmute clothing that has an indestructible rune on it. The two forces would clash since indestructible is the same as unchangeable in runic language. The results would be... explosive at best. Nuclear at worst."

Jean and Wanda grimaced at the image before the latter spoke. "It's too bad that you can't just tattoo them on you. You would look cool with a tattoo." Wanda promptly blushed at her slip and refused to meet either his or Jean's eyes.

Jean barely stopped herself from glaring at Wanda for the comment since she personally thought tattoos were distasteful. However, the look on Slade's face caused her unease. "Slade? You're not actually thinking of doing that, right?"

Slade shook his head in thought and smiled. "It's a good idea but it wouldn't work due to the fact that my body is still growing. The arrays and runes would grow out of place with bad results. Maybe when I finish growing..." Slade promptly changed his tune when he saw the glare Jean was giving him. "... Then again, tattoos are so permanent and unchangeable. Better not to make any hasty decisions."

Wanda discreetly made whipping motions at Slade when Jean wasn't looking making Slade scowl which only made her giggle. Jean noticed but made no move to deny the fact that she had her not-boyfriend whipped.

Slade sighed as he thought of the problem. Drawing the arrays and runes on his body was a good idea but not a very good one. After all, there was only so much space on his body and there were hundreds if not thousands of arrays and runes. Slade had taken to watching anime and cartoons with Jean and Wanda lately, purely for academic reasons of course, in order to get ideas for his magic. He particularly liked the show "Naruto" and liked the idea of using slips of paper to transfer seals and runes onto an object. However, he couldn't exactly carry hundreds of slips of paper on him all the time. It would take time to find the right seal and/or rune in the pack if he did. If only there was a way to draw seals in the air or-

Slade sat bolt upright as his mind raced at his last thought.

One of the special abilities of his purple flare was that it could maintain its form for as long as Slade willed it. That was how he could use it to make bindings and the like. However, lately Slade had been using purple flare less and less due to its drawbacks. But now it seemed he had found the perfect way to use it. Better yet, purple flare came almost instinctively to Slade since he was its creator so that meant he could form the runes and arrays much more quickly than others.

Jean and Wanda exchanged a confused look before Jean hesitantly spoke. "Slade? You alright?"

Slade smiled and nodded. "I'm fine. I just thought of an answer to my problem. But first..." Slade turned to Wanda. "... Wanda, can you go to the storeroom that my Dad use to keep his artifacts and bring me his containment ring? I don't want to mistakenly put too much power into it and hurt you guys so it's best if I do it inside the containment ring."

Wanda nodded her understanding and left through the door that led to the basement hallway before turning left toward the storeroom. Dr. Strange had accumulated a lot of items during the years and the ones he didn't use regularly he put in a warded storeroom in the basement. The kids had just recently been allowed entry into it provided they didn't touch anything they didn't know the function of. The containment ring was really a hoop-like metal circle that was usually as small as a bracelet but could be expanded to a diameter of 8 meters at most. The containment ring could be placed on the ground and it would keep anything within its boundaries from escaping. It's usually used to capture things but can also be used for training dangerous magic like what Slade was planning to use.

Wanda stepped into the storeroom once the wards recognized her magical signature and looked around to find the containment ring. She spotted it on the far wall and walked over to grab it.

However, as she walked over she spotted something on her right covered by a white sheet that hadn't been there before. It seemed to have been placed there recently and was placed against the wall but had the space in front of it clear of anything.

Something drew Wanda to it and she couldn't help but be curious. Checking to see that there was no one around, she walked forward and grabbed the sheet before removing it.

It was a mirror but unlike any mirror she had ever seen before. It was amazing in its craftsmanship and design, simple yet elegant and seemingly perfect. Around its golden edge was script; Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi. Wanda was confused at what it meant but shrugged it off as some kind of dead language.

As Wanda admired the mirror, she wondered why it was tucked away in some dark corner to be forgotten. Wanda stepped back to look at the mirror properly and gasped at what she saw reflected there.

At first, Wanda thought she was seeing her birth mother but shrugged it off after she looked into the person's eyes. She realized that it was her yet... not. It looked more like how she would look like when she was older, like around 23. She had obviously grown up well if the voluptuous curves said anything and she was dressed in an attractive red corset-like shirt and black pants.

However, what truly captured Wanda's attention was that she wasn't alone. In Wanda's arms was a baby in a bundle of blankets. Mirror Wanda was cooing at the baby and making faces causing the baby to giggle. The real Wanda was wondering who the father could be when she got her answer.

Behind Mirror Wanda a man appeared. The man had a ruggedly handsome look to him that still managed to give him an air of wisdom. He had black hair with grey streaks and golden honey eyes. The man was dressed in a tight red shirt and black pants and had hugged mirror Wanda from behind while cooing at the baby from over her shoulder.

Wanda's eyes filled with tears as she watched Mirror Slade kiss Mirror Wanda lovingly on the cheek as they looked down at what could only be their child. Wanda's heart filled with longing as watched them be so happy and content together. The image was only made better by the fact that she could see an older-looking Jean in the back looking on in approval along with what could only be her brother, similarly aged and with a happy smile on his face. She could also see Dr. Strange laughing in the background as he talked to a strange man Wanda had never seen before that had shoulder length white hair and a soft smile.

'Does this mirror show the future?' thought Wanda hopefully. A part of her felt terrible at the thought because that would mean that Jean and Slade would break up. However, that was buried under a growing part of her that wanted nothing else than for what she was seeing to be true.

"Wanda? You alright in there?!"

The sound of the real Slade's voice brought her out of her thoughts and she quickly covered the mirror with the sheet as she heard Slade approach the storeroom. Slade looked at Wanda in confusion as she stood in front of him with the containment ring in hand.

"Sorry Slade," said Wanda quickly. "I was just caught up in studying the other stuff. Here's the containment ring."

Slade rolled his eyes in amusement and placed an arm around her waist as he led her out.

"You know you can study anything you want in here. What's mine is yours."

Wanda's heart skipped a beat at his words. Aren't those the same words that signify husband and wife? Does that mean that what the mirror showed was actually the future? One thing was certain however.

She would be coming back to see it again tonight.

* * *

><p><strong>4:00pm, April 30th Slade's workroom, Sanctum Sanctorum<strong>

Slade frowned as he finished drawing his latest runic scheme in mid-air in record time using his purple flare magic. It had only taken him 10 seconds to draw it using his finger charged with purple flare magic and it now only takes 20 seconds to draw it in the palm of his hand using only his mind to guide it. Most people would consider this a prodigy level achievement, especially since it had only been a week since he came up with the idea. Slade activated a pre-drawn rune that let out a bolt of lightning in his direction only for the mid-air rune to activate and absorb the electricity, therefore protecting Slade from being hit.

Despite this Slade kept frowning. This was due to the auburn-haired girl sleeping on the conjured couch in his workroom.

For the past week, Wanda had been steadily appearing worse and worse, almost like she wasn't sleeping. That was absurd since he always saw her enter her room earlier than even Jean and him. Despite this, she had been getting steadily more and more tired and dark circles had grown under her eyes as well as becoming more and more snappish. Today in training she had almost gone too far against Jean in what almost looked like a jealous rage. She had apologized quickly afterwards but Jean had been so wary of her that she had decided to study on her own today rather than come for their group study session like always.

Slade stopped what he was doing and walked over to the sleeping Wanda and kneeled beside the couch to look at her closely.

On closer inspection, it was obvious that she was suffering from signs of exhaustion. Normally, Wanda was a light sleeper and he hovering over her would have awoken her quickly. However, now she slept on obliviously and this worried Slade deeply.

Slade had asked her what was wrong but she had denied anything being wrong and that made Slade feel worse. Had he been such a bad friend lately that she didn't trust him with her secrets anymore? Wanda had never kept secrets from him and the fact she was doing so now hurt him deeply. Especially since this secret seemed to be causing her to not sleep at night and ruining her health.

Slade sighed as tucked a strand of Wanda's hair behind her ear, causing Wanda to sigh and smile in her sleep. Wanda had tried to stay awake and give comments as to how to help him get faster with his alchemy but had promptly fallen asleep the moment she sat down. Rather than wake her, Slade had discreetly cast a sleeping spell over her so her sleep would deepen before conjuring a couch complete with blanket and laying her on it and tucking her in. Wanda hadn't stirred during the entire transfer and had only slept on obliviously.

Slade couldn't help the smile that came to his face at the sound of Wanda's soft snores. He almost couldn't stop himself from laughing when she grabbed a pillow and started to drool on it. That was totally blackmail material and he couldn't wait to tease her about it.

Seeing Wanda like this, serene and vulnerable, helped Slade make his decision.

Tonight he would watch Wanda to see what was happening to cause her to lose sleep. Dread filled Slade at the thought that maybe Lilith or Pandora were attacking Wanda through her dreams in order to torture her. They had already shown themselves capable of affecting their emotions, what's to say that they couldn't attack their dreams, especially now that Lilith was free?

In fact, Slade was surprised they hadn't tried anything till now. From what his father had told him, both Concepts were prideful and arrogant and Slade's rescue of Wanda, despite having failed to stop Lilith's release, would have stung at their pride. Not to mention Slade's casual disregard of Lilith's proposal would have infuriated her.

It wouldn't surprise Slade if they were behind this at all and with that thought in mind, Slade's resolve strengthened.

He just hoped Wanda would forgive him for the invasion of privacy.

* * *

><p><strong>Midnight, May 1<strong>**st****; Slade's room**

Jean had gone to sleep at her customary time of 11pm after an hour long make out session with Slade, leaving Slade alone to continue his studies a while longer.

Due to his eidetic memory and unique biology, Slade required less sleep than normal people. Usually, a person slept for a minimum of 8 hours due to the fact that the mind needed that time to organize their short-term memories into long-term memories as well as recover from the day's stress. However, Slade's eidetic memory meant that he didn't need as much sleep because his mind already "saves" everything into long-term memory the moment it happens. For this reason, his mind needs less time to recover and since the body only needs 2 hours of rest to recover any lost energy, Slade only really needed to sleep for about 4 hours.

Slade usually went to sleep at around midnight and woke up around 4am and studied until it was time for the group's morning training with Raizo. His studies were helped tremendously ever since he learned thought acceleration. It allowed his mind to made incredibly complex plans and calculations within a second and combined with his eidetic memory, he was a walking supercomputer.

However, all of this was secondary because at exactly midnight one of the runes Slade had discreetly placed in Wanda's room went off. Slade frowned because it wasn't the rune he expected it to be.

Slade had placed several rune alarms to alert him when an outside presence entered her room either mentally, astrally or physically. It was similar to the set-up he had around his room but less lethal to enemies than the ones around his room. He had also placed a rune alarm in case Wanda left her room in case she was being mind controlled remotely by Pandora or Lilith and they managed to evade to disarm his other runes. This was the alarm that went off.

The moment he felt the rune alert him, Slade put down the tome on flame alchemy and its uses and quietly got up before going into his astral form and leaving his body behind a barrier of runic wards to prevent possession. Slade had rarely used this power after having learned it about a month ago so it took most of his concentration to maintain it. He made a mental note to practice it at a later time.

Slade phased through the wall into the hallway in time to see Wanda turned a corner toward the stairs. Afraid that she was being led out of the house again, Slade floated quickly to catch up.

However, Wanda walked by the front door and instead walked down toward the basement. Confused, Slade continued to follow her silently, wondering if she was really being controlled or if something else was going on.

Slade watched silently and invisible as Wanda walked down the basement hallway toward the storeroom. After the wards let her through, she rushed through the doorway, leaving the door open behind her.

Now Slade was completely confused. While maybe Pandora and Lilith were controlling her to take an item in his father's storeroom, he doubted it. For one, there were wards and alarms that prevented anything from being taken out of the storeroom unless the person was authorized. Right now, they only had authorization to take out the containment ring and nothing else. No amount of attempts would allow Wanda to take anything else out so what was going on?

After waiting a few minutes to see of Wanda would come out, Slade decided he needed to confront Wanda. He doubted this had anything to do with Lilith or Pandora so this left only something personal Wanda was hiding. While normally he would respect her privacy, this had been going on for long enough. Even if she was angry with him afterwards he needed to break whatever it was that had her losing sleep.

Slade returned to his body before silently walking down to the storeroom. After making sure Wanda was still inside, he walked through the doorway after the wards gave him entry. The sight that met him was not what he was expecting.

Wanda was sitting in front of a large ornate mirror, staring into its depths with a longing look on her face. The look scared Slade slightly due to its intensity and the fact that there was a slight sign of obsession in her eyes. The fact that Wanda was smiling lovingly and sometimes caressed the mirror only made the sight worse.

Slade cleared his throat, breaking whatever spell the mirror had on Wanda and causing her to stand up abruptly and turn to the sound. When she saw Slade standing there with a look of concern, her cheeks promptly turned red in embarrassment and anger.

"Slade? W-What are you doing here?" asked Wanda nervously.

Slade cocked an eyebrow. "I could ask you the same thing. Is this mirror the reason why you haven't been sleeping lately?"

Wanda bit her lip and nodded. "Yeah. I don't know what it's called but it shows the future, Slade! And it's beautiful! I look at it and I'm older and I have a baby and..."

Slade's frown deepened as Wanda kept talking about the things she saw in the mirror. Everything from her having a baby and being married (suspiciously, she refrained from mentioning who she was married to), to her brother and Dr. Strange and Jean being there and happy. The more she talked, the more worried Slade became. Slade really doubted the mirror showed the future. One of the things that his father taught him was that the future was always in motion and our choices were what made the future come to pass. While the future Wanda was describing sounded perfect, it sounded... too perfect. No one could be perfectly happy all the time and the future she was describing only showed her the good times and nothing else.

Slade nodded as Wanda finished. "Can I study the mirror?"

Wanda looked reluctant to leave the mirror (something that caused alarm bells to go off in his head), but eventually moved aside. "It only works if you stand right in front of it. Look into it and..." For some reason she blushed heavily. "... Tell me what you see."

Slade cocked an eyebrow at her sudden burst of shyness but shrugged it off. Rather than stand right in front of it, he stood a little off to the side to study the mirror more closely.

It was rather ornate for a full length mirror with a golden edge and various motifs carved into its sides. Slade touched the edges and almost reeled back from the magic it was giving off. From a distance, one could barely sense it but from close up it was fairly obvious to anyone but a complete idiot. Slade looked at its back and his eyes narrowed as he could faintly see runes etched into the back. Slade memorized the sequences and runes used to study it later.

Slade stepped back and saw the inscription on the top edge; Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.

Slade's mind worked overtime to try and decipher its meaning. He quickly discarded it as a different language. For one, it had no apostrophes or other accents that other languages always had. Finally, he realized that it was a mirror, therefore it could be written backwards.

After changing it in his head and changing the spacing, he deciphered its meaning; I show not your face but your heart's desire.

Slade's eyed widened at the implications. The magic needed to enchant a mirror to reveal a person's innermost desire was staggering. It went through the penumbra of mind, soul and heart magic in order to manifest a perfect picture that satisfied all three's desires. That wasn't even mentioning the fact that it had to have enough power and subtlety to bypass Wanda's mental barriers without her noticing it and she was by no means a pushover in that regard. Her mental barriers were even stronger than Slade's due to the fact that she needed to control her emotions in order to power and control her magic.

Slade sighed as he realized he would have to tell Wanda the truth. "Wanda, this mirror doesn't show the future."

Wanda looked as if she had been struck and immediately tried to deny it. "T-That's impossible! I know what I saw! I was older and I had a baby and we were-" Wanda stopped before looking down at the floor with a heartbroken look. Slade had never lied to her. "A-Are you sure?"

Slade drew Wanda into a hug as she started to cry. "Yeah, I'm sure. The mirror only shows you your heart's true desire. It shows you what you want in the deepest part of your heart. I'm guessing your true desire is to have a family and for everyone to be happy and at peace without any fighting."

Wanda nodded into his shoulder and refrained from mentioning the main part of the desire had been of them being married and having a child. It wouldn't take a genius to understand what that meant in regards to her feelings to him and she didn't want to come across as a home-wrecker by coming between him and Jean.

Slade sighed and he placed a kiss on her brow. "We might not always be at peace (After all, I doubt Pandora or Lilith will ever leave us alone) but we are your family, Wanda. And I promise that I'll do my best to make what you saw into reality, no matter how much I have to try."

Wanda turned bright red at his declaration as images of him and her trying to recreate the scene she saw, especially the baby in her arms, came to mind. Wanda just knew that if this was a cartoon then she would be blown back a nosebleed from some of the things she was imagining.

Wanda shook her head to get the thoughts out of her head and smiled up at Slade through her tears. "I should have known it was an illusion. It seemed too perfect. And even then, to get as obsessed as I got... it's just... I wanted to be real so badly..."

Slade smiled sadly down at Wanda. "I can imagine. It is your heart's true desire, after all. Go to sleep, Wanda and don't dwell on dreams and illusions of what ifs. Instead concentrate on trying to make them reality."

Wanda smiled up at Slade and for a second he swore he saw a mischievous glint in her eye before she slowly got up on her tip-toes and softly gave him a kiss right on the edge of his lips. For some reason, it sent a shiver of desire down his spine.

Wanda smiled strangely up at Slade. "Night, Slade." With that, Wanda left the storeroom and up to bed.

Slade stayed where he was for a second before he shook himself out of the stupor Wanda's kiss had put him in. He wondered why he reacted like that. After all, it was just a kiss on the cheek. Well, more like a kiss on the corner of his lips but still, it isn't like she kissed him full on the lips. Yet somehow she managed to convey just as much passion if not more as the most passionate of Jean and his kisses.

'It's probably nothing. Yep, nothing to worry about... I hope.'

Slade was about to follow Wanda's footsteps and go up to bed when he remembered that he had to cover the mirror again. He walked back and was about to cover it again when curiosity hit him. What would the mirror show him if he looked into it? He wasn't someone who wanted power so that was out. Riches didn't appeal to him either and magic could make an infinite number anyway. And he didn't often think about the future beyond the next week. So what would the mirror show him?

Unable to help himself, Slade dropped the sheet and stepped back until he was standing right in front of the mirror.

A much happier Slade stared back, one unburdened by the years living in the Void. His eyes were bright and happy and was waving energetically. Next to him was a woman with blood red hair, well not a human, but a demoness he recalled as Shara, Slade's Demonic mother. On Slade's other side was a woman with silver hair, glowing white eyes and a rune tattooed on her forehead and she was clinging to Slade happily, this was Uriel the archangel mother of Slade. Behind him stood Lilith and his real father Inaris, smiling proudly and all looking lovingly at their child as they laughed at some joke Inaris had told and behind them was a cloaked pale woman (Death from Deadpool game), she was death the final mother of Slade and she too was laughing at the joke.

A fist impacted with the glass of the mirror and the image faltered like it was getting a bad signal before scattering into mist.

An angry Slade Strange was the owner of the fist and he shook in anger at what he has seen. The mirror was obviously faulty. This couldn't be his heart's true desire... right?

Unable to cope with what he had seen, Slade covered the mirror before he turned intangible and flew up to his room to sleep the night away.

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><p>Slade dodged to the right to avoid a particularly strong white mystic bolt before slamming his hands to the floor. The transmutation circle he had managed to create in his palms allowed to transmute a wall of earth in front of him to block to the barrage of mystic bolts heading his way.<p>

Knowing the wall would only hold for a second or two at the most, Slade quickly thought of another plan of action to win the spar against his adoptive father.

Suddenly, the image of what the mirror showed him the night before came into his head, disrupting his concentration for a second. It was a second too long because the earth wall suddenly broke and Slade was hit by a mystic bolt straight in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

The barrage of mystic bolts instantly stopped once Slade was hit and a concerned Dr. Strange walked forward to check Slade over. "Are you alright, son?"

Slade winced as he felt his ribs and confirmed nothing was broken, just bruised. "Yeah, I'm fine Dad. Just some bruised ribs. We can keep going."

Strange just frowned and shook his head. "I think not, Slade. Your head has been elsewhere all day according to the girls and we can't properly train while you're distracted. Do you want to tell me what it's about?"

Slade got a stubborn look on his face and shook his head resolutely.

Strange sighed. "Very well. But we won't continue our lessons till you clear your head of whatever it is that's bothering you." With that, Strange started to walk away when Slade's voice stopped him.

"I found the Mirror of Erised last night."

Strange stopped short at that and turned to give Slade and knowing and sad look. "And what did you see, son?" asked Strange softly.

Slade gritted his teeth as he tried to keep the tears from forming to no avail and angrily brushed them away with the sleeve of his shirt. "It's obviously broken because it didn't show me what I really wanted. Just some worthless illusion that I don't wish was the reality."

Slade started to pace as his emotions started to get the better of him. Strange just watched on sadly as Slade's emotions boiled over.

"I mean, they abandoned me! Why should I wish that my stupid parents hadn't left me in that oh so safe Void? Why should I wish that they would love me enough to keep me? Why should I wish that that night never happened?! I mean I have a good home and family now. I'm learning magic I would have never learned if it hadn't been for what happened. I met Wanda and Jean who I couldn't imagine not meeting. WHY SHOULD I GIVE A CRAP ABOUT WHAT THEY THINK OF ME?!"

Strange just stayed silent as Slade stopped trying to hold back his tears and fell on his knees crying. He slowly walked up to Slade and placed a hand on his shoulder. "The heart doesn't listen to logic, Slade. The heart wants what the heart wants and you shouldn't be ashamed of it. I don't think less of you for feeling that way. In fact, I would have been surprised if you didn't."

Slade eventually stopped crying and continued speaking in a near-whisper. "You know what the worst part is? Everyone thinks that having eidetic memory is such a good thing. I can remember anything I read after having just read it once. I can learn from my mistakes after having made them once. But they forget about the other side of the coin. I remember, in perfect clarity, a time when my parents loved me. A time when the idea of leaving me alone for only a few hours was impossible for them to contemplate and they only trusted their closest friend with my safety. I remember watching that very same friend betray that trust and I remember the soul-scorching pain as the Archon's curse touched me. I remember waking up, looking for my mother to comfort me only for them to be too busy caring for some ritual to spend more than a few minutes with me and when they did, they never paid me their full attention."

Slade's tears returned as he continued. "I remember waking up one day, not even having a chance to say goodbye, in the void thinking that they had dropped me in like I was some burden or package. I remember waking up every day for almost 80000 years, despite all evidence to the contrary, hoping that their abandonment had only been a dream only for that thought to be crushed by reality. I remember wishing every second of every day for any form of contact from the world just so I know I wasn't forgotten only to receive nothing. I remember practicing magic, not to experiment with it, but to attract their attention and hoping they would appear if I mastered it."

Slade's tears stopped falling as his sadness was replaced by anger. "Only to receive NOTHING! Not a letter, nothing! It was like I no longer existed to them. I was their son! DID I MEAN SO LITTLE TO THEM?!"

As quickly as his anger appeared, it disappeared as he looked up at his adoptive father with the most vulnerable expression Strange had ever seen. "My mind tells me that they probably had their reasons and even after that night they never completely ignored me. But despite every excuse my mind gives me, my heart keeps asking...why didn't they want me?"

At that, Strange kneeled down and wrapped his son in a hug, letting him cry into his shoulder as years full of pain and questions escaped. Despite him being a prodigy and mature for his age, Slade was still a teenage boy with scars on his soul that would never fade.

Strange hugged Slade tighter as he spoke. "It's not wrong to wish the things that happened to you never happened, Slade. It doesn't make you less of a person. And while I'm sure your parents had valid reasons for what they did in their minds, those reasons are hollow and empty compared to the effects of their choice. The fact that despite all your power and skill, your deepest desire is nothing less than to be average, to have everything that happened that made you special not have happened, says a lot about your character. It means that over everything in the world, you wish nothing more than to be average and have a loving family. It shows wisdom beyond your years."

Strange sighed. "But that's impossible for you now, son. There is a saying that my master once told me: A hero's life, no matter how great, is always nothing less than tragic. I cannot promise you that everything will be okay and that the scars of what happened will fade someday. But I can promise you that no matter what happens, you will always be my son."

The training room was silent except for the sound of Slade's sobs.

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><p><strong>AN: And there's chapter 7<strong>

**I decided to keep the mirror scene as the mirror and its effects was an important part of Slade's growth and I couldn't not put it in. It also gives you an insight into Slade's character and his motivations. **

**And now an update on the poll. **

**The current results are:**

**Janet van Dyne/Wasp: 5 **

**Dani Moonstar: 2**

**Karima Shapandar/Omega Sentinel: 1**

**I have decided to add Gamora to the mix. **

**As always, Read and Review!**


	9. Chapter 8: The Young Arc Ends Part 1

Chapter 8: The Young Arc Ends Part 1

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. All other concepts and ideas from other books or stories belong to their respective authors. No copyright infringement is intended.**

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><p><strong>Slade's bathroom, Sanctum Sanctorum<strong>

Slade sighed in relief as the cold water from the shower's nozzle hit his skin.

He and the girls had just come back from their regular morning exercise with Raizo and had split up to shower and get ready for classes that day. Today was light in terms of training due to it being Jean's last day with them full-time. She would be moving to live at Xavier's school tomorrow in order to use the summer to get acquainted with her fellow mutants. Slade found it ironic that this, the last day he would spend full-time with Jean, would also be the last day of classes. 'At least we get out at noon,' thought Slade ruefully.

Personally, Slade was in two minds about her leaving. Logically, Jean's powers would only truly flourish around other mutants to teach her. Prof. Xavier was a much more powerful telepath than Aunt Agatha for the simple reason that it was his only skill. Anyone who concentrated solely on one skill for their entire life would obviously be much better at using it than someone who didn't. However, Aunt Agatha had shown Jean that simply because someone was more powerful than you, didn't mean they were better.

She demonstrated this by telepathically running circles around Prof. Xavier, showing a degree of skill that came from millennia of practice. It was similar to the bull and the bullfighter holding the red flag. The bull was much stronger but the bullfighter holding the flag was so skilled that every time the bull came close, he would skillfully dodge the bull's charge with little to no damage to himself.

The same happened between Prof. Xavier and Agatha. He was very skilled and compared to others, he was the second best in the world in terms of telepathic knowledge. However, Agatha had millennia to hone her telepathic skills and there was no way he could catch up to her in one lifetime alone.

Despite this, he could dedicate all his time on Jean, honing her telepathic abilities unlike Aunt Agatha who had to divide her time between Jean, Wanda and Slade. Wanda, especially, needed her undivided attention during their sessions due to the chaotic nature of her powers. For this reason, it had been decided that it would be in Jean's best interest to go to the Institute.

On the other hand, Slade had this irrational fear of never seeing Jean again once she left, a fear shared by Jean. For this reason, they had spent as much time together as possible whether it was simply talking or in... Other activities.

A part of Slade was also scared that Jean would move on from him and fall for someone else. Jean would be the only girl in the group at the Institute and Slade didn't delude himself into thinking none of the boys there would be attracted to her. Jean was a beautiful girl, both inside and out, and even in a crowd of models, she stood out from them all.

At least, that was Slade's completely unbiased opinion.

Slade sighed once more as he turned off the water's nozzle and grabbed the towel to dry himself off.

He knew he was being paranoid and stupid. Jean had told him many times that that wouldn't happen and that she was faithful to him. At the same time, they knew what they had would be coming to an end soon. Slade would be going to study under Ulthane during the summer while Wanda would be going on a sort of world tour with Agatha in order to study the more esoteric parts of her magic. During that time Jean would be acclimating herself to the Institute and they were mature enough to realize that he and Wanda couldn't visit her until she got used to the Institute or else she never would. The only exception would be Slade's birthday on July's 31st, where they would come to the Sanctum Sanctorum to celebrate no matter what.

Slade left his personal shower thinking about how he finally discovered where Ulthane's dimension was.

* * *

><p><strong>Flashback (a week ago)<strong>

**(Warning: short lime ahead)**

Jean moaned into Slade's mouth as their tongues dueled for domination. The reason for her moan was due to Slade massaging her currently bra-clad breasts, having discarded her shirt a few minutes ago. Slade gently yet firmly held her breasts in his hand as he played with her nipples through the fabric.

They were currently wearing only their underwear on Jean's bed as Jean straddled Slade with her legs locked around Slade's back while he was sitting up with Jean in his lap. It was getting close to midnight and Slade had sneaked into Jean's room in order to get back at her for all the teasing she had put him throughout that day. As the date of Jean's leaving came closer, the couple became less and less careful to hide their activities in their rush to spend as much time around each other as possible.

Tonight, for example, Slade barely had the time to put up a silencing and locking ward around Jean's room before she had tackled him in her need to feel him.

Slade smirked into Jean's mouth as the extra stimulation distracted Jean from their tongue duel and allowed Slade to get the upper hand. Jean could only moan in pleasure as Slade thoroughly dominated her mouth, claiming it as his.

However, Jean wasn't going to go down so easily and so started to grind her still pantie-covered core against Slade's erection. The boxers he was wearing only added further stimulation and Slade slowly lost concentration as the feeling of her hot core grinding onto his erection almost made him blow his load in his boxers. Jean took advantage of this to regain the upper hand in their tongue duel. Now it was Jean claiming Slade's mouth as her own as Slade could do nothing but take it.

Slade always loved it when Jean lost herself in her passion. She would become possessive and dominate over him, muttering things like he was hers while leaving hickeys all over his body as if marking him. Slade loved it when Jean lost her inhibitions since it was so rare for her to do so.

Jean stopped her domination of Slade's mouth and smirked down at the now lying-on-his-back Slade. Keeping her smirk, Jean slowly crawled down Slade's body while placing kisses on it. Slade shuddered in arousal as Jean lapped on his nipples, having not known that it could arouse him to have them licked. Jean then left a trail of kisses down his chest before reaching his abs where she smirked up at Slade with lust in her eyes before placing gentle yet passionate kisses on each of them. However, she quickly abandoned them in order to reach her real prize.

Jean's self-confidence rose at the sight of just how aroused she made him. Slade's cock was almost ripping itself from the tight confines of his boxers and she couldn't help but feel proud that she had that effect on him. Slade had managed to resist Lilith's seductive powers with little to no effect but a few caresses from her had him harder than steel.

Jean seductively pulled his boxers off and was glad she hadn't tried to pull them off with her teeth since Slade's cock would have probably have taken her eye with the way it bounced free. Jean then lowered her mouth onto Slade's cock and made sure he was watching her as she started licking it up one side and down the other.

Slade closed his eyes in rapture at the feel of Jean's tongue on his prick. Jean was rarely the one to initiate oral sex between them but when she did, she made sure each time was better than the last.

Slade had to grip the bed as Jean continued to tease him with languid licks up and down his cock while avoiding the head. Jean purposefully did this in order to increase his arousal while denying him release, knowing that the longer she did it, the more passionate he would be when he returned the favor.

Finally, Jean stopped her languid licking in order to take off her underwear and place her center over his face. They were now in the classic 69 position. Slade understood the silent offer and all too willingly started to lick around her outer lips before plunging into her center.

Jean shook as she felt Slade plunge into her center in a passionate frenzy and decided she needed to reward her lover. She took Slade's cock into her mouth until she could go no more without it entering her throat. She was still too shy to try deep-throating for fear of hurting herself or him and so 3 inches were left outside of her mouth. Jean rectified this by wrapping her right hand around the part not in her mouth and stroking it as she sucked on the part she could.

Slade moaned when Jean took him in her mouth and doubled his efforts to make Jean cum. After completely lathering her clit, Slade reached up to part the outer lips of her pussy in order to penetrate deeper with his tongue. He was rewarded for this by feeling Jean moan around his prick, almost making him blow his load right then and there. Determined not to cum first, Slade unveiled his secret weapon.

Jean was happily blowing the one she considered the love of her life when she felt Slade stop licking her for a second. Jean wondered what was wrong before she suddenly felt his tongue reenter her pussy and go crazy.

Jean had to hold onto Slade's shins as he used serpent tongue on her pussy and proved that learning new, magical languages had many benefits.

Jean's world went white as her ability to stop her incoming orgasm was lower than Slade's skill at causing it. As she returned from wherever her orgasm sent her, a part of her wondered how anyone could consider Jormungand evil when he gave her boyfriend such a wonderful gift. As her orgasm receded, she realized that she had abandoned Slade's erection and went back to returning the favor.

Slade smirked as Jean trembled over him in orgasm and put his mouth over her pussy to suck up all her juices. She tasted sweet yet with a meaty taste as well. He loved serpent tongue and decided to find a way to thank Jormungand for his gift. Slade moaned as Jean returned to her blowjob with an eager passion and love that defined most of their encounters.

Slade remembered the first time Jean had given him a blowjob. It had been fumbling and inexperienced and both teenagers couldn't help but giggle and chuckle at their inexperienced attempt. However, Jean had learned what Slade liked through practice and it showed in her confident sucking of his cock.

Slade grunted and tried to hold back his orgasm to no avail. He exploded in Jean's mouth and to his surprise, rather than spit it out where Slade would then vanish it, Jean swallowed it with a moan of pleasure.

Jean swallowed her lover's cum, curious to see how it would taste, and found it to be different than she expected. It didn't taste good but it wasn't exactly bad. It just takes some getting used to, she guessed. After swallowing it all down, Jean turned around while still on top of Slade and laid down on top of her lover and snuggled into his warmth.

**(Lime end)**

* * *

><p>Slade wrapped his arms around Jean and pulled the covers up over them before whispering a spell to get rid of any leftover stickiness and smells from their activities. Slade's eyes started to droop from the energy spent in their activities. He yawned as he pulled Jean closer to him, much to Jean's contentment as she snuggled deeper into the crook of his neck.<p>

Slade smiled as Jean let out a sigh of contentment. "You surprised me by swallowing it."

Feeling a bit mischievousness, Jean smirked. "Love sucks but true love swallows."

Slade coughed as Jean quoted the shirt Wanda had bought her in a rock store the other day. Jean had gone with Wanda who was trying to convince Jean to wear more outgoing clothing when they saw it. Jean had gone bright red when she read it causing Wanda to laugh at her embarrassment. Wanda had then secretly bought it and left it in Jean's room with a card saying she should wear it when she was alone with Slade. Needless to say, when Slade saw it, he instantly got a hard-on at the mental image.

Once he regained his bearings, Slade playfully glared down at a laughing Jean. He tried to not think about what she had indirectly said about her feelings for him. They had silently agreed not to say that they were in love out loud thinking it would hurt less when they were parted. Privately, Slade thought it was stupid. He couldn't imagine his pain being any greater than it would be when she left for Xavier's. No matter how much others said they could stay in contact, they both knew it wouldn't be the same.

Jean rubbed her stomach as she felt his cum settle in it. "It feels sorta weird but I could get used to swallowing your cum if you like it."

Slade smirked and tried to steer the conversation to less dangerous and serious waters. "If you do, then you'll have to cut back on those chocolate brownies you love so much. You might gain a few pounds if you keep eating them along with my cum."

Jean looked up at him with a childish pout before playfully smacking him on the arm. "Are you calling me fat, Strange? And I'll have you know that I carefully balance each pound of brownie I eat against how much exercise I do daily so that I won't gain a single pound."

A sly smile crossed Slade's face. "Do you count the ones you sneak into your room during the night?"

Jean blushed as Slade pointed at the incriminating evidence of a dirty plate with bits of chocolate brownie on it placed on top of her desk. She telekinetically grabbed the plate and threw in the trash bin as Slade laughed at her embarrassment. Jean pouted before playfully starting to smack his chest which only increased Slade's laughter. Jean hid her face in Slade's chest to hide her own smile. It was pretty funny that she tried to hide her guilty love of chocolate brownies when the evidence of it was not five feet from them.

Jean looked up at Slade with a pout. "I'm just protecting the brownies from being eaten by other people. My stomach is the safest place in the world for them."

That caused Slade to break out in laughter once more. "Uhuh, I'm sure that's the reason you ate them. It's because your stomach is the safest place in the-"

Suddenly, Slade sat up, almost causing Jean to fall off the bed in surprise. However, Slade barely noticed, his mind going a thousand miles per hour as he realized something that had been on his mind for months.

Jean recovered from her shock and sat up beside him, not caring about the covers no longer hiding her bra-clad breasts. "What is it, baby? Did something happen?"

Slade turned to Jean with a smile before kissing her deeply. It took a moment but Jean returned the kiss before Slade broke it. "Thank you, Jean! I finally figured out where Ulthane's dimension is!"

Jean was confused at what Ulthane had to do with what they were talking about and said so. "What does Ulthane have to do with brownies and my stomach? Or is Ulthane's dimension in my stomach?" The last part was said jokingly but with a hint of worry. Knowing what she knew about magic, it was completely possible.

Slade laughed at the worry in Jean's tone and shook his head. "No, no. It's not in your stomach, baby. Although with how many brownies you can eat, we should check there isn't a separate dimension in your stomach." Chuckling as Jean playfully smacked his shoulder, Slade explained. "Ulthane's dimension is inside Yggdrasill. That's why we couldn't find it! It was staring us in the face the entire time. He hid his dimension within the trunk of Yggdrasill so no one could ever find it!"

Jean's eyebrows furrowed as she thought about it. "Well... it makes sense. No one would be able to find it if that's the case. But how will you find it if it's true? The trunk of Yggdrasill is big. You need more precise coordinates to get there."

Slade just smiled. "You forget. Inanis spent centuries with Ulthane. I can use it to guide the exact location of the spell now that I have a general location. Magic has a will of its own so with Inanis as the guide, a general location and my intent, magic will do the rest."

Jean sighed and shrugged. "Fine. I guess now you'll have something to do this summer when Wanda takes that world tour with Master Agatha." Jean pouted up at Slade. "Now come back to bed, baby. I-I want to sleep with you in my bed tonight."

Slade blinked in surprise. Usually, they spent an hour or two snuggling after their activities before going back to their respective rooms in order to not risk being caught. Slade looked at the nervous Jean and realized that this was a big step for her since it would introduce a new level of intimacy between them. The logical side of Slade told him it would make no sense to take this step when she would be leaving in a week. However, the part that loved Jean Grey with all his heart told his logical side to stuff it and that it was best to enjoy it while he could.

Slade's eyes softened and he nodded before laying back down, letting Jean take back her spot of laying her head on his chest and throwing a leg over his. Slade smiled softly as he closed his eyes while hugging Jean closer to him, feeling a certain rightness to them sleeping together.

Just as Slade was drifted off to sleep he could have sworn he heard Jean mutter, "I love you."

**Flashback end**

* * *

><p>Slade smiled to himself as he found it ironic that he would realize where Ulthane's dimension was located while he was intimate with Jean. The first time he'd gone there had been during the adventure that ended in Slade and her's revealing their feelings for each other. It was only right that he would locate it again while being intimate with her.<p>

Just as Slade put on his boxers and finished drying his hair, he was tackled onto his bed by a familiar soft body. It was only the familiarity of the body that kept Slade from lashing out in defense. Months of training with his father had given him a hair trigger when it came to self-defense and he almost always had a constant array of defensive spells protecting him.

It was one of these spells that kept either him or the tackling Jean from getting any bruises as Slade landed on his back in a whoosh of displaced air. Jean smirked seductively over Slade as she sat on his chest.

Once he recovered from the unexpected attack, Slade looked up to see Jean wearing only her bra and her school skirt and instantly got hard at the sight of Jean's bra-clad breasts.

Jean felt Slade's reaction and smiled knowingly down at him. She subtly moved down until her center was hovering over his erection and started to gently grind her core onto his erection, causing him to let out a soft moan and grab her ass in order to encourage her.

Trying to fight through the haze of lust Jean was causing, Slade gulped before speaking. "Baby... we have to get to class and Wanda's probably waiting for us. We don't have a lot of time for another activities." Despite his words, Slade grabbed Jean's ass tighter and pushed her closer to him while too slowly dry hump her back.

Jean's breath started to shorten as she placed her hands on each side of Slade's head. She then started to grind down on Slade's erection more noticeably before speaking. "Wanda decided to take a full-on bath rather than showering since we have time. You forgot that classes today are only from 9am to 12pm since we already took our finals and don't have to repeat which is what the afternoon is for. So we have two hours until we have to get to class. Wong isn't going to make breakfast till 8am today for that very reason. In short, we have at least an hour to ourselves. The afternoon will be spent with all three of us but for right now..." Jean gave Slade a scorching kiss that revved up his engine and got him ready for whatever Jean had planned. "... I want to spend it with you. But first," Jean got up before dragging Slade into his bathroom again while dropping her school skirt onto the floor. "... I think we need to take another shower."

Slade smirked and followed Jean into the bathroom again. "Whatever you want, my fiery haired goddess."

* * *

><p><strong>With Wanda<strong>

Wanda hummed to herself as she shaved her legs in the bath. She was glad Jean said she could take the hallway bathroom with the large bathtub. It gave her the chance to give into her girlish tendencies and soak in the tub for a while.

Wanda smirked to herself as she knew that Jean hadn't been completely selfless when she offered her the hallway bathroom. She was probably in Slade's room right now trying to convince him to take a shower with her.

Wanda's heart constricted slightly at the thought of what they were doing in his shower but she shook it off. While she admitted to herself that she was jealous of Jean for being with Slade, she cared too much for both of them not to wish them happiness. Jean was like a sister to her and while she was jealous, she was happy as long as they were happy.

Wanda smiled to herself as she checked over her legs to make sure she didn't miss anything before lying back down in the tub in thought.

Tomorrow, Jean would be leaving to Xavier's full-time and Wanda had to admit that despite an evil voice in her head saying that meant Slade was single once more, she wished Jean would stay. Wanda didn't have a lot of friends in school, both because of her late acceptance and because of how she dressed.

In a school full of preps bar Slade, Wanda was the sole "rocker". It wasn't her fault she liked rock, rap and similar veins. She just found that stupid romantic crap so bad that she wanted to puke on herself every time she heard it. Rock and songs like that simply called to her and so what if she liked dark clothing? Slade said it fit her and made her stand out from everyone else at school.

Before Slade, she hadn't liked her hair so much, wishing it was either completely black or a lighter red like Jean's. But Slade had told her that it fit her perfectly due to her darker outlook on life due to her experiences and he liked it just the way it was. Since then, Wanda had abandoned any thoughts of dyeing her hair black like she originally planned.

Wanda shook her head of thoughts of Slade. He was dating Jean now and just because she was leaving didn't mean they wouldn't be dating anymore. If they wanted, they could make it work out.

She instead turned her thoughts to the "world tour" Agatha said she was going to take her on. They were going everywhere from the pyramids of Egypt to Stonehenge. While in each place, Agatha would give her a brief description of some of the ways ancient sorcerers used to control their most dangerous powers and how she could apply it to her own powers. While not a history junkie like Slade, she had a healthy respect for ancient sorcerers and sorceresses that managed to achieve levels of power unknown in recent times. Agatha said that in ancient times the ability to manipulate reality like she could was commonplace. The only thing that made her special was that she was born with her powers rather than earning them through hard work and study. It would be an interesting experience to be sure.

Wanda reached over to the sink and pressed play on her CD player and sank into the tub as the voice of Eminem filled the bathroom.

Wanda sang under her breath as Eminem's angry tones filled the bathroom. She had asked Slade to install a unique silencing ward around the bathroom that stopped sounds from leaving the bathroom so she could listen to her music and not bother anyone while allowing her to hear if someone called her from outside. He had tweaked it a bit to sense her overall health and warn him just in case she was hurt and her heart warmed at his thoughtfulness.

Wanda's mind wandered over to the dynamic between the trio.

While Jean and Slade's relationship had changed a few things (mostly between them), it hadn't really changed much else. Slade spent equal amount of time with her as well as on his own projects. He would often go to Wanda to test some new magical theory or similar and they had become extremely close because of it. She may dress like a rocker, but she was actually very smart when it came to magical applications and while not a genius like Slade, she could hold her own when it came to philosophical discussions.

Wanda shook her head as the CD ended and she turned off the CD player before getting out of the tub and wrapping herself in her red towel. Grabbing her dirty clothing and placing them in the hamper in the corner, Wanda grabbed her stuff, made sure her towel wouldn't fall (that would be embarrassing), and left the bathroom to her room.

When she passed Slade's room, she heard the sound of Slade's shower still running and realized that the couple must still be in there together.

A mischievous smile came to her face and she peeked into Slade's room to make sure no one was there. Quickly going to her room and leaving her stuff on her bed, Wanda walked back to Slade's room, fixed her towel so it covered everything while still revealing a bit of cleavage and entered his room before knocking on Slade's bathroom door.

She tried to fight a smile from appearing on her face as she heard Jean's surprised squeak and Slade hushing her before he walked over to the door.

Wanda plastered an innocent look of distress on her face as Slade's head peaked through the door while trying to hide Jean's presence in the bathroom.

"Wanda? What is it?"

Wanda inwardly laughed as distinctly heard Jean curse her when she was 'so close'. "Have you seen Jean? I went to her room so that we can help each other with our hair like always but she wasn't there."

Wanda inwardly giggled as Slade unsuccessfully tried to keep a blush from his face. "Um... no, I haven't. Maybe she just went down to eat already?"

Wanda shook her. "No. Wong told me he hasn't prepared the food yet and you know how he hates people hurrying him. Do you think something happened? Maybe someone got inside her and made her come to them?"

Wanda had to use all her willpower to keep a straight face and not fall down laughing as Slade's face started to resemble a tomato at her 'unintended' innuendo. While Wanda knew they hadn't gone that far yet, she still couldn't help herself. By teasing them, she got her mind off the fact that they may in fact do that soon.

Wanda watched in amusement as Slade, who was usually so articulate, tried to get his mind out of the gutter. It took all of Wanda's willpower not to break character but the best part had yet to come.

Slade eventually regained his ability to speak and cleared his throat. "I'm sure she's fine and just in the basement checking something or something like that. Don't worry. My wards would be able to sense if she's in trouble or left the house." Slade seemed to realize that Wanda was in a towel for the first time and she was glad to see that he had trouble looking away. "So... um... why are you only in a towel?"

'Now for the coup de grace,' thought Wanda evilly. She let a sultry look cross her face and leaned in closer, allowing more of cleavage to be seen. She internally leaped for joy when she saw Slade react to her so strongly. "Well, the hot water in the hallway bathroom ran out and I haven't finished taking a bath yet. So I'm wondering if I could use yours?"

Slade tore his gaze from her cleavage and gulped at the sultry look on her face. "Um... sure. Just let me finish up here and it's all yours."

Wanda leaned yet closer and whispered in a tone that was still loud enough for Jean to hear. "Why don't we just save time and water and shower together. You take care of my back while I... take care of your front. After all, it's not the first time we've done it."

"WHAT?!"

'Score,' thought Wanda as she heard Jean's outburst. Wanda had to hold in her chuckles as Jean ripped open the door and looked from her to Slade with a furious look in her eyes. She at least had the sense of mind to cover herself with a green towel before ripping the door open and Slade, unfortunately, already had a white towel around his waist when he was talking to her.

Adding more coal to the proverbial fire, Wanda looked at Jean in false surprise. "Oh, Jean? I didn't know you were there." She shrugged. "I didn't want you to find out this way but if you want I'm up for a threesome to make up for it if you are. I'll be sure to wash all your body."

Jean was torn between outrage at her boyfriend's supposed infidelity and a bit of arousal at the mental image she had conjured. Slade was no better as he was trying to deny her claims but the mental image she had conjured had made all his blood flow south.

Jean was about to tear into both of them when the dam on Wanda's laughter broke. Wanda barely had enough strength to hold up her towel as she fell to the floor in laughter at the look of realization slowly coming over her friends' faces. They had finally realized that they had been pranked.

Jean was the first to regain her ability to speak and playfully glared at her best friend. "That was mean, Wanda! I really thought you and Slade were cheating on me behind my back."

Wanda evilly smiled up at Jean and cocked an eyebrow. "Cheating on you? Why, Jean, I didn't know you thought about me in that way. But I'm sure three of us can make it work." She gave Jean an over the top wink to top it off.

Slade snickered at her words and Jean just blushed harder. "Y-You know what I mean!"

Wanda got up and walked to the door that led to the hallway before looking over her shoulder at them. "Now, you be careful now. Remember to use protection!"

Wanda ran out the door just before Jean telekinetically slammed it behind her. Laughing to herself, Wanda walked to her room feeling much happier.

'I may be a little jealous of Jean. But the ability to do stuff like this more than makes up for it!' thought Wanda amusedly.

* * *

><p><strong>Back with Slade and Jean<strong>

Slade was still chuckling as Jean tried to get over the embarrassment of her best friend knowing what she was doing with Slade in the bathroom. While glad Wanda wasn't jealous, or at least was controlling her jealousy, Jean wished it didn't mean having to put up with her pranks. They were embarrassing.

Slade turned to Jean and brought her into hug, ignoring the way she crossed her arms and pouted at him for laughing at her. "Don't be that way, baby. It was pretty funny."

Jean unsuccessfully tried to keep a smile from crossing her face and started to chuckle. "Okay. I guess it was pretty funny. Still... she interrupted us at the best part."

Slade had a sly smile on his face and he quickly whipped off Jean's towel, revealing her nude form. Ignoring her indignant cry, Slade led her to the bed and laid her on top of it. "Oh, I think I can make it up to you." With that, Slade lowered his face between Jean's legs.

Jean quickly grabbed Slade's hair as he started to please her and let out a cry. "Oh, sweet baby Maeve!"

Slade entered the dining room with a cat that caught the canary look while Jean looked a little unsteady on her feet. Both were now dressed in their school uniforms and carrying their book bags which had their change of clothing for the afternoon in it. Wanda rolled her eyes at them as she chuckled into her plate and continued eating. Slade's father also had a smile on his lips while Wong had a knowing look on his face.

Slade acted like he had no idea what they were looking at him for and just sat at his usual chair to Wanda's right while Jean sat on his other side.

"You're evil, you know that?" muttered Slade to Wanda.

Wanda had the gall to give him an innocent look. "Whatever do you mean, Slade? I'm just a pure, naïve and innocent maiden. Like those princesses who need their prince to rescue them."

Wanda made an overdramatic show of pretending to faint at the sight of blood causing Jean to snort into her orange juice and Slade to roll his eyes.

Slade gave Wanda an incredulous look. "Please. If you were ever kidnapped, I'd feel sorry for the kidnapper. With the way you've been training since the Pandora incident, they'll be lucky if anything is left of them."

Wanda gave him a vicious grin and a wink causing Jean to snicker. Of the two girls, Wanda was the one with the least tendency to hold back against her opponents. It was probably due to her experience with Pandora but no one dissuaded her from her actions. After all, the more she practiced her power, the less chance she had of losing control at the wrong moment.

The rest of breakfast passed in idle chatter while avoiding mentioning Jean's impending departure. When they finished, Wong picked up their plates and Strange cleared his throat.

"Now, I know that today you have plans to spend the afternoon together after you get out at noon. However, I want you three to be here by sundown. Your teachers and I have a surprise for Jean in order to celebrate the time she spent here."

Jean blushed in embarrassment and waved her hands frantically in denial. "T-That's okay! I don't need anything really!"

Strange just smiled gently. "I insist. We're going to have a small review of everything you learned and then have a small party. Nothing big, just a small get together with us and your teachers. Teaching you was quite refreshing since you proved that even someone with no magical aptitude could learn and apply magical theory to other aspects such as your telepathic and telekinetic mutant powers. To be truthful, I hope you write a dissertation on the difference between magical telekinesis and your own mutant one. Are they the same or are there minute differences? Does having only telekinesis make you stronger in it than a sorcerer or is it dependent on the user? Also-"

Slade coughed to interrupt his father's eager discussion. He, Agatha, Slade and Jean would sometimes get into long philosophical discussions on magic and how it affects the world around them. Jean especially loved those discussions since, having no magic of her own, it allowed her a glimpse into just how central magic was to the balance of the universe.

Strange realized he had gone off on a tangent and blushed slightly. "Well, yes. As I was saying, your presence, much like Wanda and Slade's, was a very welcome addition and you are always welcome here."

Jean ducked her head and blushed before mumbling a, "Thank you." Slade found it kinda cute how she still got shy despite the stuff she did when they were alone. That girl was a bit of a freak in the bedroom.

Shaking off his thoughts, Slade turned to his dad. "Sure, dad. We'll be back by sundown so don't worry."

Strange nodded before checking his watch. "Its 8:30am so you all better get going. The faster you arrive, the faster you guys leave."

The teenagers nodded before picking up their bags and leaving toward their last day of school and Jean's last day at the Sanctum Sanctorum.

Slade sighed in relief when the bell rang signaling the end of term. Despite it being only three hours, Slade wished they could have skipped. Lance had been especially obnoxious today since he knew that Jean was moving to the Xavier's Institute and so guessed that he and Jean were breaking up due to it. For some insane reason, he thought that that meant Jean would start dating him now and tried to ask her out.

Jean had coldly told him no and ignored him for the rest of the day. It didn't help when he turned around and tried to ask out Wanda like nothing happened. Wanda responded by slapping him in the face when the teacher wasn't looking. Slade had to hold in his laughter when Lance told the teacher he had mistakenly hit himself, too proud to admit that Wanda had slapped him.

They had half-heartedly listened as Ms. Franklin told them what they would be covering next year so they could study ahead as well as the dates for the advanced placement exams over the summer. The latter was the only thing of interest for Slade since with Jean now leaving both Wanda and Slade had decided to skip ahead. Slade would tutor her over the summer so she could enter in the same grade as him so they could graduate early. Both were becoming more and more engrossed in their magical studies and found normal school to be more of a distraction than anything, especially since they already knew the material.

Slade picked up his bag and followed Wanda out the door while holding hands with Jean. They separated when Wanda and Jean entered the girl's bathroom (the former locking the door behind them so no one could enter while they were changing) while Slade entered the boy's bathroom.

Slade changed into a red short-sleeved dress shirt, black jeans with a silver belt that had his father's symbol as the buckle as well as red and black sneakers. After checking himself in the mirror, Slade put on his latest projects which was a pendant of a dragon holding a red ruby in its claws and a non-descriptive silver ring. While both seemed more or less normal, both had tiny runes etched into them to give them certain magical properties.

The pendant was part of a set of three he had made. His had a dragon while Wanda's (which he had already given to her) was of a pentacle. Jean's was secured in his pocket in a box to give to her later and had taken longer to create for various reasons.

The ring, however, was for his own personal use and was completely his own idea, unlike the pendants which was taken from something Agatha once mentioned. He had originally planned to create a ring that created a constant and powerful shield surrounding his person. That turned out to be a dud due to the simple fact that unless he made the runes as small as an ant's leg, there wasn't enough space on a ring to properly define what kind of shield, whether physical or magical, he wanted. Shield rings also needed somewhere to store magic, usually gemstones, in order to be able to function. The best gemstones for that kind of stuff are very rare and impossible to create magically. The only thing better than gemstones are scales from magical creatures.

However, even the best gemstone for storing magic, diamonds, is only able to hold a certain amount of magic. In order to have the magical power necessary to cast a shield as strong as Slade wanted, he would need at least four diamonds on the ring and that would make it impossible to inscribe the runes Slade wanted. After all, he didn't want the shield to be constantly up or else he wouldn't be able to touch anything. He needed to inscribe the runes in such a way to shield from threats but not from normal day to day activities.

Therefore, Slade had abandoned the idea for a shield ring and instead created something that was both more complex and at the same time, much more simple... for him anyway. He had inscribed the ring with runes in order to stimulate the regeneration of both his magic and his health. Basically, it gave him a slight healing factor while also helping Slade to regain his magic by absorbing the natural magic in the air, filtering it, and giving it to Slade.

While sounding complex, it was much simpler than making a shield ring since it required less runes and required no storage medium like a gemstone since it absorbed the natural magic in the air to work. He put the idea of a shield ring on hold for now. Most magicians used shield bracelets instead of rings but Slade didn't like the idea of using a bracelet himself and so decided not to give up on his idea of a shield ring just yet.

Slade put the pendant around his neck and the ring on his right ring finger. Checking himself over one more time, Slade put his school uniform in his bag and left the bathroom to wait for the girls to get ready.

Luckily, he didn't have to wait that long and the girls came out.

Jean was dressed in a green shirt with a red bird-like symbol in the front, black jeans with a silver belt that had an 'X' symbol for a buckle as well as green sneakers to finish off the look. Her hair was loose and it now more than ever looked more like fire than simple red hair. She was wearing Slade's birthday present for her which was a silver shield bracelet with three charms; the Celtic symbol for 'King', a phoenix and a pentacle. Slade had spent a month on that bracelet alone and it could take everything short of a nuclear bomb without leaving so much as a scratch on her. Of course, it only worked for a limited time despite the beating it could take. Having no magic of her own, it had to use ambient magic and that only worked for a limited time before needed to stop to be refilled.

Meanwhile, Wanda had a red corset top with black jeans with a red belt that had a pentagram symbol for a buckle. She also had red sneakers and silver earrings that Slade knew were enchanted to detect any foreign substances in her food as well as protect her mind from telepathic intrusion. They as well as the pentacle pendant had been Slade's birthday gift for her 14th birthday a month ago and she had never not used them that Slade could see.

All in all, both girls looked dressed to kill and Slade couldn't help but feel his confidence rise at the idea of walking down the street with these two girls on his arms.

Wanda seemed to notice what he was thinking because she cocked her hips and winked at him. "Aren't you so lucky to be able to walk down the street with such beautiful women?"

Jean giggled at Wanda's words. "Maybe. But we're equally lucky to be walk around with someone so handsome, aren't we Wanda?"

Slade swore he saw Wanda's eyes glint in lust as she looked him over but waved it off as his imagination. He turned to Jean and pulled into a kiss which she happily reciprocated. "You look every bit the goddess you are, Jean."

Jean shyly blushed at his compliment before winking at him. "And you look every bit a King."

Wanda cleared her throat to remind them of her presence and smirked at their sheepish expression. "Come on, guys! Let's go have fun and make this a day we'll never forget!"

Slade smiled. "I can get behind that plan."

After a quick stop at home to leave their bags, the three friends left to see what the city had for them today.

* * *

><p><strong>Unknown location, same time <strong>

The living room door slammed open as Pietro angrily walked into the living room. The room's occupants just shrugged at the teen's anger and returned to what they were doing.

Pietro was a 14 year old boy with a lean body that hid some muscle, especially along his lower body. He had white hair that almost reached his neck and blue eyes and in his humble opinion he thought he was the most handsome man in the world. He was currently wearing a green sleeveless shirt that was seemed a size too small and black jeans that were tight around his legs and didn't have any loose areas. His clothing was designed to minimize air friction when he used his super-speed while looking casual. The only unique thing were his shoes which were specially designed to endure the speeds he ran at.

Pietro Maximoff was angry for a very good reason. He had been searching for his sister ever since their disastrous escape from the burning village almost a year ago. He had been completely panicked when he woke up to find Wanda nowhere near him and had used his super-speed to search for her for weeks.

His usage of his mutant powers had attracted the attention of a powerful mutant named Magneto who had appeared to him offering him training to learn how to master his power as well as help in finding his sister. Pietro had quickly agreed and for the past half year, he had trained vigorously in his power while Magneto searched for Wanda.

The search had borne fruit since he found out that she had been taken in by a Dr. Stephen Strange, a master of the occult, and had enrolled her into New York Academy of Advanced Learning.

Pietro had instantly wanted to go pick her up but Magneto said not to. He said that the mansion where she was staying had a powerful shield of some kind surrounding it and that not even he was strong enough to penetrate it. The only times she left was for school and they couldn't risk exposure at this point in time.

Pietro had been furious and had tried for the last month to get the location of where she was staying so he could rescue her. It was obvious in his mind that she was being kept prisoner in that house and this doctor was probably experimenting on her. She was probably a mutant like him and this doctor was using her like a guinea pig for his twisted experiments. It was the only reason for why she didn't seem to even be trying to search for him.

The idea that she was but simply couldn't find him didn't even cross his mind.

He had just come back from yet another failed attempt in persuading Magneto to go rescue her and the only thing he had learned was that she was still in New York and that it didn't look like she was being held against her will.

Pietro snorted.

What did Magneto know!? It was obvious that she was and if she denied it then she was obviously brainwashed. Pietro knew it was possible. After all, one of his 'teammates' specialized in illusions and mind control. So it wasn't impossible for her to have been tricked into trusting her captors.

Pietro looked around the living room as he sat on his sofa and studied his future teammates.

Sitting on the other side of the sofa reading some magazine was the eldest of the group, a man named Jason Wyngarde also known as Mastermind. He looked to be in his 40s with grey hair and brown eyes and Pietro found out he used to work as a carnival mentalist before Magneto picked him up. He was dressed up in his usual brown ensemble that looked like a raincoat to Pietro no matter how much the old man insisted it was similar to a detective look. His power was to create illusions so complex that his targets would never know anything was wrong unless they were trained to detect it.

Playing video games in the far corner was John Allerdyce also known as Pyro. He had control fire, but not generate it. Everything from his tan skin to the way he followed Magneto around made Pietro dislike him. He had blond hair and blue eyes. He was wearing white shirt with a flame design and jean pants. He also had wrist mounted lighters so he had access to fire at all times. You would never know he was 17 and therefore, older than Pietro by the way he acted.

The last and only female of the group was Astra (whose real name was Beth Al-something or other that Pietro couldn't pronounce) who was tinkering with some gadget on her worktable along the far wall from the door. She was the most normal looking besides john and Pietro himself, with white skin and black hair. The only outward thing to show her as a mutant was her abnormally lean physique despite the fact that she ate almost as much as Pietro himself. Pietro also snickered at the fact that it seemed like she had barely hit puberty due to the fact that despite being 16, she still looked a very pretty boy when seen from behind. The front wasn't much better since she had small breasts that could be easily concealed if she was so inclined.

It only made it funnier that she tried to enhance what little feminine attributes she has in some inane quest to get Magneto's affection.

Personally, Pietro thought Magneto was too crazy to love anyone and the only reason he himself hadn't left was because of Magneto's promise to help him get Wanda back. Pietro knew he probably only wanted Wanda due to her probably being a powerful mutant like him but Pietro didn't care. As long as Wanda was safe and happy with him, he was content.

Pietro's lip curled as he remembered his conversation with Magneto. The guy was too afraid of facing whoever was holding her to make a move. All this talk of not being ready to make a move yet was probably just talk to hide his fear. All Pietro would have to do is get in, grab Wanda, and get out. He was so fast no one would even notice.

No one was faster than him.

Pietro turned to Mastermind and opened his mouth to say something but the old man beat him to it.

"No, I am not helping you in your insane idea to rescue your sister. Magneto's right. Whoever is holding her is powerful enough to negate his magnetic powers and it is foolish to attack someone in their home territory. It would be best to first know more of the situation before moving forward."

Pietro snarled. "And leave my sister with those monsters who are probably doing who knows what to her until then?! I don't think so! No! We need to rescue her now before they twist her mind so much that she thinks we are the enemy."

Mastermind sighed at his idiocy and one-track mind. "First, we have no idea whether or not she is being held against her will. Certainly a powerful mutant like her would use the chances she has when she's at school to escape if truly wanted to. However, there has been no sign of that. Secondly, anyone that could stand up to Magneto would make mincemeat out of us. All we'd succeed in doing would be exposing our existence to the authorities or getting captured ourselves. Third... you're an idiot and I'm not going to follow the plan of a 14-year-old boy."

Pyro took that moment to insert his own comment. "Plus, Magneto forbade us from going anywhere near her till he says so."

Pietro snarl grew larger. "I'm not his servant to boss around!" Pietro calmed himself down before making his pitch. "Anyway, he only thinks of it if he goes alone. But if we all go together then we'd get her back easy! I mean, isn't that why we're training together? To be a team?"

Mastermind rolled his eyes. "Yes, because that is working out so well."

Pietro grimaced as he remembered the various failed attempts at them getting to work together. Mostly due to either his impatience or Astra's complete lack of care for anything except Magneto's attention.

Just as he was about to reply to Mastermind's honest assessment of their teamwork skills, they heard a beeping sound coming from Astra. The girl in question pulled out what looked like a small screen from her bag and turned to Pietro.

"Well, it looks like you're in luck. I had created this scanner to track your sister's mutant signature whenever she left either the school grounds or that mansion she's staying at. I only managed to finish it a month ago but it works perfectly. According to this, she's currently walking around New York. Probably with that cute boy she lives with."

Pietro's face darkened as he thought about the boy in question. The boy was named Slade Strange and he was supposedly the son of Dr. Stephen Strange. From what Magneto said he was a sorcerer like his father and was real close to his sister. Pietro thought he was too close and it didn't help that he was supposedly dating the other girl, Jean Grey. He was a teenage boy too and he knew what was probably crossing his mind when he looked at his sister.

The other girl, Jean Grey, was also further proof that they probably had Wanda mentally controlled. According to Magneto, Grey was going to live in the Xavier Institute soon and Charles Xavier was a powerful telepath. It would be cakewalk for him to mentally manipulate someone. It didn't help that Grey was a telepath/telekinetic as well so she could probably restrain his sister if she tried to escape.

"Well, then. Two birds with one stone. We can rescue my sister and take this pretty boy hostage too. He'll sing under Magneto's persuasion techniques quickly enough and tell us how to break whatever hold he has over my sister."

Pyro got between Astra and Pietro and held his arms up. "Wait, wait, and wait! We aren't going! Boss man said we can't!"

Astra interrupted before Pietro could say some scathing comment. "Really? But just imagine how proud Magneto would be at your initiative. You brought him two, maybe three powerful people in one fell swoop. He would be very proud."

Pietro looked at Astra through narrowed eyes as he finally figured out why she was helping him. She wanted Magneto's attentions and by doing this she would have them and in her mind, his love. He internally snorted. He doubted he would care for her whether or not this worked but whatever. It served his purposes.

Pyro stopped short at her words and a smile crossed his face. "Yeah... he would, wouldn't he? Alright then, let's go!"

Mastermind had been listening to them with growing disbelief and couldn't stay quiet any longer. "Are you serious? You're going on some half-baked plan to capture three powerful mutants? You must be insane." With that, he went back to reading his magazine.

Astra turned to Mastermind with a devious smirk. "If you're too scared then by all means, stay behind. The Grey girl is supposedly a powerful telepath and she'll probably make your illusions useless."

Mastermind angrily gripped the magazine in his hands. "No girl could break through my illusions."

Astra's smirk just widened. "Prove it."

Mastermind's eyes narrowed at her before he started chuckling. "Well played, girl, well played. Very well. Since there's no way to dissuade you, I guess I must go along to make sure you don't make a mess out of everything."

Pietro smirked at his words. "Then it's settled. We'll find them and lead them somewhere out of the way with the old man's illusions before taking them down."

Everyone nodded and got ready for Astra to teleport them there.

* * *

><p><strong>Mordo castle, same time<strong>

Karl Mordo also known as Baron Mordo looked at the image the water showed him in thought.

Karl Mordo was a powerful sorcerer almost equal in strength to his rival, Dr. Strange. He wore a completely green ensemble that included a long-sleeved shirt, pants, a sort of loincloth and a cape that had two sharp points at the shoulder that extended so they were equal in height with his head. He had grey hair and brown eyes that were constantly searching for more ways to gain power.

Right now, he was studying the image of Slade Strange through a bowl of water enchanted to show him images of whatever he wished. This worked unless, of course, it was mystically blocked like his rival's mansion was. It seemed as if his rival, Dr. Strange, had an apprentice. A powerful one from what he could sense at that. He had heard that he had adopted the young boy but he didn't know he was being taught sorcery as well though he shouldn't be surprised. After all, he was teaching his own daughter sorcery as well.

That brought the Baron up short.

His daughter Astrid had been showing remarkable proficiency in magic and had entered the realm of demon summoning lately. However, true skill in magic is best taught when one has a rival to surpass as he does in Dr. Strange and his daughter, unfortunately, has none of her own.

Perhaps it was time to change that.

"Astrid!" called out Mordo.

There was a sound of a door opening and someone calmly approaching before his daughter entered the room.

Astrid would be considered beautiful by most people's standards. Fucking hot wouldn't be remiss either. At 19, she was near the prime of her life and both her magic and her looks reflected that.

Her hair was a beautiful blue-black that grew in ripples with a body similar to a gymnast's while not detracting from her feminine curves which were considerable. Her eyes were beautiful brown that looked like molten pools of chocolate that seemed to sparkle with untold secrets and her generous lips were parted slightly, as though in the next instant she might smile or laugh, blow a kiss. This was on top a face that was perfectly heart-shaped with a nose that was not too small and not too big for her face. All of this was enhanced by her clothing which consisted of black fishnet stocking beneath black shorts, a semi-loose green shirt the same shade as her father's that had a few buttons unbuttoned at the top along black high heels that gave her just the right lift to enhance every curve.

However, her good features ended at her looks. Her eyes, while similar to chocolate and looked mischievous, hid the hard glint of someone hungry for power at any cost, with little care for anything else. The untold secrets in her eyes were really horrible truths about the things she had done in her quest for power. Her lips, rather than smiling kindly or laughing, were always turned into a cruel smirk that showed that she thought everyone was beneath her. And her body was just another tool for her to use to seduce idiotic sorcerers into giving her their secrets and indeed, had led many sorcerers to their deaths.

All in all, Astrid Mordo was the very definition of a femme fatale. One that looked like an angel while in reality being more demonic that very demons she was learning to summon.

"You called, father?" intoned Astrid in a monotone voice. Usually, Astrid's voice held a seductive ring to it that both lowered her opponent's guard and reeled in her prey. However, she was currently alone with her father and there was no need for that at the moment so she quickly abandoned it.

The elder Mordo nodded. "Yes. It seems as if my rival, Dr. Strange has an apprentice. He's currently out seeing the city and I thought it would be the perfect time to test him and if possible, steal any secrets his master has given him. I have no doubt that Strange has warned the boy of me and I do not wish to sully my hands by beating down a mere boy. However, you have a talent for seduction and subterfuge and you physical looks would go a long way to getting the boy to lowering his guard. He is a teenager after all."

Astrid pursed her lips in distaste. "How old is the boy, what is his name, and what does he look like?"

Mordo cocked an eyebrow but answered in an even tone. "He is turned 15 in April and his name is Slade Strange. Here is what he looks like." He showed Astrid a magical image of Slade similar to a 3D hologram.

Astrid had a look of disgust on her face at the information of his age. "You wish for me to seduce a 15 year old boy?"

Mordo's eyes flashed in anger. "If I ordered you to, you would fuck a goat, is that understood?"

Astrid flinched at her father's tone and lowered her head in submission. "Yes, father."

Mordo glared down at his daughter's downturned head for a second before relaxing. "However, he is much too young for that to work but you can tempt him into battle far from his master. Children his age reveal more in battle than they do using words. Engage him and find out how far along he is in terms of sorcery. If he is weak, then leave him be. However, if he is strong, then kill him before he becomes a threat."

Astrid nodded her head to show her understanding while hiding the relief she felt that she didn't have to seduce a child. She studied the image of her target for moment and had to admit that he wasn't all that bad looking. He looked to be quite handsome when he grew up but still, she was glad she wouldn't have to lower herself to seducing a mere child. "Understood, father."

The elder Mordo was about to dismiss her until something came to mind. "We do not want your relationship to me to become known to Strange just yet so hide your most distinctive features if you can."

Astrid paused in thought before passing her left hand over her face. As her hand passed, her face became more angular, her eyes turned into the color of sapphires, and her nose slightly shortened so it was now button-nosed. She then passed her right hand through her hair and it turned a dark blonde that was common in the United States. All in all, while similar, she now looked like a completely different person.

The elder Mordo looked over the changes with an approving eye before looking at the rest of her body. "No other changes?"

Astrid shook her head. "The best disguise is the one that looks most similar to your true face. No one would suspect it since they always imagine that you'll hide under a face drastically different from you own. Furthermore, changing too much may alert him to the fact that this isn't my true face due to him detecting the magic over the many changes. This, however, is much more subtle and impossible to detect unless forewarned."

The Baron shrugged. "I will take your word for it. I was never much good in the more subtle sides of magic. That is more a woman's realm." He missed the way Astrid's eyes flashed at his words. "Either way, go now and test this Slade boy. Kill anyone who interferes and do not fail me."

Astrid bowed her head to her father. "As you wish, father." With that, the elder Mordo dismissed her and she left to get ready.

As she walked to her room, she thought over what she'd do if she met the boy. From the image she saw of the boy, he walked like someone confident in his skills without being arrogant. Pity, that. Arrogance was something she could work with.

He also had the body of someone who exercised often and was in great shape if the slight six-pack she saw in his tight shirt was any indication. This meant he probably knew some form of close-combat or weaponry so attacking that way was out.

She would just have to wait for an opening to attack with her magic and see how the battle went from there.

The only thing she could decide on was to use a mask to hide the fact her face was under a glamour while not changing clothing. This way her body would still distract him while at the same time misdirecting him as to her real face. While she was beautiful, there were many women with similar bodies to hers so he would try to recognize her by her face alone. By hiding under a mask he would think that the face he 'reveals' during their fight is her real face and would try to identify her that way. But since under the mask would just be her glamour face, it would be useless and her true identity would be safe.

The only thing that was missing was a codename. Hmmmm...

"Nightwitch," said Astrid, tasting the name. "Yes... that sounds fitting." Astrid looked at her glamoured face in the mirror and smirked. "Look out, darling. The Nightwitch is coming for you."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: And there is Chapter 8 done. Here is a current poll update.**

**1) Janet van Dyne/Wasp 5 **

**2) Gamora 4**

**3) Dani Moonstar 2**

**4) Karima Shapandar/Omega Sentinel 1**

**5) Barbara Morse/Mockingbird 0**

**Ok, so Wasp is in the lead so far. But to add some more competition I've decided to add:**

**Ava Ayala/White Tiger **

**Illyana Rasputin/Magik**

**While Astrid Mordo/Nightwitch will be to Slade as Poison Ivy is to Batman. Also I had to replace Toad with Pyro because Toad is in high school in X-Men: Evolution and has not meet Jean or Scott yet. **


	10. Chapter 9: YAE Part 2 A Rival Appears

Chapter 9: YAE Part 2; A Rival Appears

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. All other concepts and ideas from other books or stories belong to their respective authors. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Warning: Underage Lemon, skip if underage or don't like**

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><p><strong>Streets of New York City near Central Park, New York<strong>

Most men complain about going with their women when they go clothes shopping. There were times when Slade would agree with them that it was a hassle and he would rather be anywhere else. However, there were times when it was all worth it.

Wanda had a devious smile on her face as she pushed Jean forward to show off the clothing Wanda had forced her to try on while also modeling the clothing she was trying on. "So, Slade? What do you think?"

They had been walking around the city for almost two hours now and after grabbing a bite to eat (Jean insisted on Italian so they went to eat there), they just walked around window-shopping. They had spent half an hour in Barnes and Nobles buying some books before the girls deciding they needed to shop for clothes for the summer and dragging Slade along. They had decided to start by buying their swimsuits and Slade couldn't be happier.

Slade tried to keep himself from drooling as he looked at the girls in their swimsuits.

Jean was wearing a two piece Riviera designer swimsuit in a nice light red color that went well with her hair. It had a metal ring holding the two cups together in the middle, allowing one to see her cleavage quite easily. The bottom portion did nothing to hide the curve of her bottom and there were many men even three years older than her stopping to ogle her. They quickly kept moving when Slade gave them the evil eye.

Wanda was getting ogled no less than Jean in her seductive black two piece swimsuit that had two metal swirl designs holding it along the straps. While her breasts were a touch smaller than Jean's own C-cup, they were still impressive and she more than up for it by having a bottom that was making many men walking behind her slam into walls.

However, both girls only had eyes for Slade and wanted to hear his opinion on the matter before buying them. Slade swallowed the spit that had accumulated in his mouth and smiled. "You need to buy them. You guys look... damn, just damn."

Jean bit her lip shyly in happiness while Wanda smiled widely at his words before speaking. "Then we've got our bathing suits for later this summer to hit the beach. We're going to the beach this summer one way or another even if it has to be on your birthday, okay Slade?"

Slade just smiled easily. "You'll hear no complaints from me."

Jean gave Slade a chaste kiss before going back into the dressing room to change back into her clothes. Slade started to walk away before Wanda stopped him by grabbing his arm. Slade looked back at Wanda in confusion. "Something wrong, Wanda?"

Wanda's eyes were glittering with an emotion Slade couldn't identify as she stepped closer to Slade till they were chest to chest. Slade's breath quickened at the feel of Wanda's breasts against his chest and the look in her eyes.

Wanda smiled seductively before whispering. "Do you really like what you see?"

Slade gulped as he felt there was some kind of double meaning in her question but answered honestly for both questions. "Yes... very much."

Wanda gave Slade a genuine smile before seeming to collect herself and walking into the dressing room next to Jean's.

Slade let out a breath he didn't know he was holding once Wanda entered her dressing room. What was that? And why did he feel like that by her presence alone? Sure, Wanda was beautiful and he'd always known that but in that second when she was looking at him with that strange emotion in her eyes and her voice deepened... she looked like one of those dark temptresses he'd heard about. A clear contrast from Jean's innocent ethereal beauty, Wanda's was...darker, more seductive in its attraction.

Slade shook his head to banish his thoughts. He couldn't think like that about Wanda. He was dating Jean and even if they broke up, it would be the worst insult in the world to start dating her best friend. He might not know a lot about girls but he knew that much.

Slade sat back down thinking about the two girls in his life, both of which he couldn't imagine life without.

Back in the dressing rooms, Wanda and Jean were taking advantage of the thin walls separating the cubicles and the fact that the other dressing rooms were empty to speak to each other.

"Wanda, how do you always push me into doing these things?" asked Jean with a blush.

Wanda just smirked at her best friend's shyness. "Because I know you well enough that I know you truly want to. You just sometimes need me to give you the right push. Plus, did you see the way Slade eyed you in your bathing suit? It looked like he was going to take you right there and then."

Jean smiled wryly as she detected the slight jealous tone in her voice. She knew that her friend had feelings for Slade and never begrudged her for them. Slade was easy to fall in love with due to the way he always thought of others first and foremost and himself second. He was thoughtful and smart and always respected your input in everything he did even if you had no knowledge of what he was doing. It was for that very reason that Jean herself had fallen so madly in love with him that she was doing all these sexual things despite the fact that some people would say they were too young. There was just something about Slade that gave her confidence in herself and she felt that she could do anything.

Jean spoke honestly. "I wasn't the only one he was ogling, Wanda." There was no accusation in her tone, only fact. It was time they talked honestly with each other.

Wanda, on other hand, didn't want to talk about it and tried to deflect the statement. "Well, of course, he's a guy and I have breasts so of course he would look."

Jean just shook her head at her friend's words. "Oh, Wanda. You're just as beautiful as me. Why do you think all those boys always ask you out at school?"

"It's not their attention I want," muttered Wanda before she could stop herself. Wanda clapped a hand over her mouth when she realized what she said. "I-I mean-"

Jean interrupted her before she could deny it. "You like Slade, Wanda, I know."

Wanda bit her lip and tried to prevent the tears from dropping. She tried to escape the dressing room even though she was still only half-dressed but Jean telekinetically held the door to her dressing room shut. In her fear that Jean would be angry with her and break their friendship, Wanda didn't even think of using her own magic to escape.

Realizing she couldn't escape, Wanda started to babble. "I'm sorry, Jean, I didn't mean to! I would neve-"

Jean quickly cut her off before she could continue. "I know you and Slade haven't done anything behind my back and I'm not angry. I understand."

Wanda stopped speaking as she processed what Jean was saying. "Y-You aren't angry at me for liking your boyfriend?"

Jean chuckled ruefully and sat down in the bench in her dressing room. "No, I'm not. I can understand it. Slade's easy to love."

Wanda bit her lip as she stopped trying to escape and sat down on the bench in her dressing room which coincidently was back to back with Jean's in hers. "Yeah... he is."

Jean smiled to herself. "Since when was it for you?"

Relaxing now that the fear of Jean's anger had passed, Wanda smiled softly to herself. "I'm not exactly sure when it was exactly. However, it was solidified soon after you guys rescued me from Pandora and Lilith." Wanda drew her legs into her chest as she remembered her captivity. "I was so scared, Jean. I know I put up a brave front but I had nightmares of it afterwards. One night," she took a deep breath before continuing. "One night, I had a particularly bad nightmare where you guys never came for me and Pandora gave me over to the Nephilim. I don't think I need to explain what they did in my nightmare, right?"

Jean bit her lip as tears came to her eyes. "No... you don't."

Wanda chuckled ruefully. "Then, Slade came into my room and woke me up. At first, I thought he was one of the Nephilim and struggled but I soon realized it was him. I just broke down when he asked me what happened and I told him about my nightmare. I cried into his shirt as I explained and he just... he just held me and told me everything was going to be alright. I told him about my fears of Pandora coming back and taking me again and that this time no one would save me. He hugged me tightly and said something I'll never forget."

Wanda's smile turned loving and her eyes softened. "He said that he couldn't promise that something like that wouldn't happen again or that there wouldn't be hard times in my life. However, he promised me that no matter what, even if he died or the world was against him, he'd always come for me. He would never abandon me no matter what." Wanda's smile turn soft in remembrance. "You should have seen him, Jean. The moonlight hit his face at just the right angle that his eyes shone like gold. His face looked like one of the pictures of the Shinto gods in its beauty and his eyes showed that he was completely sincere and in that moment... he looked every bit the knight in shining armor that they tell us about in the fairy tales. It was in that moment... that I was completely sure that I had fallen in love with him." Wanda laughed self-deprecatingly. "How sad. I fell for him after knowing only for months. You must think I'm some kind of slut or something."

Jean, who had been quiet during her story, spoke heatedly at her words. "You're no slut, Wanda. Never call yourself that. I can understand it even." Jean smiled wryly to herself. "At least I know I'm leaving Slade in good hands."

Wanda looked up in alarm at her words. "Jean! I could never! He's your boyfriend. I could never just move in on him once you left. I could never betray you like that!"

Jean rolled her eyes. "Wanda... I would actually prefer it was you than some slut that manages to worm her way into his heart. At least I know with you that you wouldn't use him."

Wanda bit her lip as she tried to hold back the joy she felt at Jean's approval and tried to protest. "You make it seem as if you and Slade are already broken up. You guys can make it work! The Xavier Institute isn't that far from here and Slade can teleport and you guys can talk to each other telepathically."

Jean sighed. "You know it won't be the same. We'll try but both our studies will make it very hard to find time for each other. Teleporting within the same dimension is also the hardest kind so Slade won't be able to do that very often until he learns the wizard's way of apparition. That doesn't even take into account the fact that we might just grow apart. He might move on from me and find someone else-"

Wanda interrupted. "No." She said this firmly and without a hint of doubt. "He will never forget you. I've seen the way you two look at each other. It's not the kind of love of other kids our age. It's not puppy love like those idiots at school. It's much deeper. No... no one could ever replace you in his heart just like no one could replace him in yours."

"Really?" asked Jean hopefully as she bit her lip.

Wanda smiled at her friend's shyness as she leaned against the wall separating them. "Yes, really. If you're sure of anything be sure of that."

The two girls stayed silent for a while before Jean spoke. "I was actually... I was planning of going all the way with him tonight. Y-You don't think it's too soon, right?"

Wanda felt as if she'd been punched in the gut. Even though she was okay with them being together the idea of them having sex still hurt. She had to fight back her instinctive urge to tell her not to and tried to think it through.

She remembered when Jean and her first officially became friends.

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><p><strong>Flashback (two weeks after Wanda met Slade and co.)<strong>

Wanda was quickly walking through the corridors of New York Academy of Advanced Learning. Slade had had to go on ahead to get to class on time while she had to report to the principal's office to collect her schedule. This seemed sound in theory but she had forgotten that she had no idea how to navigate her way through her new school. It was huge and she was now completely lost.

Wanda was trying not to panic as she swore she passed the same water fountain for the third time. She looked around to see if there as anyone to help her when she heard the sound of laughter behind her. Wanda turned to see the source, hoping for directions to her classroom.

There was a group of girls sitting on the bleachers in front of the basketball court outside. She could see them through the window talking and gossiping about something. One of them with brown hair saw her standing there and pointed her out to what looked like the leader of the group. The leader had blonde hair and brown eyes and a cruel smile came to her face when he caught sight of her.

Not wanting trouble on her first day of school and still not trusting her control over her new powers, Wanda quickly tried to get away by walking down the corridor away from where she saw the group of girls. She didn't have much experience with girls her age beyond Jean but she knew that smile anywhere. It was the smile of a predator who'd spotted its newest prey.

However, she had almost no knowledge of the layout and the girls did and so they quickly cornered her near yet another water fountain. Seriously, how many of those does this school have?!

There were about four of them in all and all of them looked to be between 15 and 17 years old. They all had versions of the school uniform that looked like they came from rich families due to the material being of much higher quality and Wanda felt small in her average quality uniform.

Wanda tried to hide her fear as the look in their eyes was similar yet different to the man that tried to rape her in the alley before Slade and Jean saved her. Rather than lust, it was a more predatory kind of cruelty that looked more at home on a torture interrogation expert than on girls their age. The leader walked up to her with a smirk and she stood her ground despite her fear. The blonde was fairly pretty for her age yet was slightly less developed than Wanda herself despite being older. Her skirt was slightly shorter than Wanda's own despite being taller and she walked with an arrogance that Wanda had seen many times from rich tourists visiting her village when she was young.

"Well, well. Lookie here. Must be the new kid transferring in mid-semester due Strange's recommendation. What's your name, plebeian?"

Wanda had no idea what plebeian meant but she got the idea that she was just insulted. "I'm Wanda Maximoff. Can you let me pass? I'm trying to get to class."

The blonde haired girl just smirked wider. "Well, Wanda. I'm Brittany but my friends call me Prissy. These are my friends; Carol, Tracy, and Jackie. You know, you shouldn't talk like that to people better than you who are just trying to help. I can help you find your class if you want."

Wanda never met a person who could offer you help while insulting you but it seemed she just had. However, she didn't trust her or her words. If she wanted to help her then why did she corner her and use her friends to surround her?

"Really?" asked Wanda skeptically. "Out of the goodness in your heart?"

Brittany smirked cruelly. "Well, sure." Her smirk widened. "After all, my parents always tell me that you should help those in lower stations of life than you. And considering that Eminem book bag you have, you are definitely in a lower station in life than me."

Wanda's cheeks burned in embarrassment as they laughed. She had bought the book bag because she liked his music. Slade had even gone so far as to buy her a CD player and his first CD. It was her most treasured possession. "Thanks but no thanks. I think I'd be better off alone."

Brittany smile had a cold edge to it. "You're right. Wouldn't want to spend too much time around you. God knows where you've been and what you've done to get into here. You look like you spend a lot of time on your knees."

Wanda's tried not to look down at her knees which were slightly dirty from the practice spar this morning. She had been so tired that she hadn't had time for a shower due to her taking too much time packing her book bag and simply got aired herself out before changing, eating breakfast and following Slade out the door. Next time she'd be sure to prepare her bag the night before.

The brown-haired girl that pointed her out before, the one Brittany introduced as Jackie, and was standing to her right sniggered. "It's probably the way she got into an advanced class in the first place. Probably sucked off the principal to get in and spread her legs to skip a grade."

Wanda's turned red in anger at their words but they weren't finished.

Another girl, this one the dirty blonde introduced as Tracy, to her left gave a nasty laugh. "More like she sucked off Strange Jr and he felt so bad for her that he convinced his dad to buy her entry in."

Wanda tried to keep the tears from falling at their words and tried not to think them as true. Did Slade really only pity her and that's why he took her in? Would he expect her to service him on command?

Wanda shook her head. No. Slade wouldn't do that. In the two weeks she'd known him he'd been nothing but kind to her and never looked down on her. And she had earned her way in by taking the exams for advanced placement.

Still, the girls' laughter hurt. She had thought she would make friends here but it seemed no one wanted her here but Slade and his father. Maybe she should just leave. She was just being a burden to Slade.

"Hey! Leave her alone!"

Wanda looked through the girls and saw Jean angrily stomping forward with rage in her eyes. She pushed through the girls until she stood between Wanda and the other girls who were eyeing Jean warily.

Jean angrily scowled at Brittany who was trying her best to look innocent. "What were you doing to Wanda?"

Brittany stepped back and just smiled coldly. "Nothing. We were just offering to help her to get around and we just started to talk about how she got in." This caused the girls to snigger at her words causing Wanda's to start to sniff while trying to keep the tears from falling.

However, Jean just scowled harder. "Yeah right. I know you, Prissy and you don't have a kind bone in your body."

Brittany scowled at Jean. "You shouldn't spend a lot of time with her, Grey. God knows what she must have done to get in with clothes like that. And to skip a grade too. People might talk and say you're the same."

Wanda winced at the insinuation and Wanda just knew she'd lost her protector. There was no way Jean would protect her if there was a risk of her being thrown out for rumors like that. No, she'd leave and-

"I think I can make my own decisions regarding who to befriend." said Jean coldly. "Plus, I think you're confusing Wanda with your mom. I think I saw her leaving the principal's office this morning and I don't think it was to talk about your grade point average."

Brittany turned red in rage but simply scoffed before walking away, her sycophants following behind her.

Jean scoffed in disgust as they left before turning to Wanda with a kind smile. "I'm sorry you had to meet her on your first day. Prissy's a bitch and you shouldn't take her words to heart."

Wanda looked up at Jean in confusion. "Why did you defend me? I mean... those girls look like they have money and I know you're here on a scholarship. They can start trouble for you if they want."

Jean just shrugged. "Doesn't matter. You're my friend and I don't abandon my friends."

Wanda looked shocked. "W-We're friends?"

Jean smiled softly. "Yeah. I mean, at least I thought we were. Right?"

Wanda smiled brightly and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Yeah, of course we are. We're friends."

That was when Wanda decided that maybe staying wouldn't be so bad and when she made her first female friend.

**Flashback end**

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><p>Wanda smiled softly as she remembered that day. It was that day that she considered Jean her best friend and they'd been inseparable since. Which was strange considering they're drastically different personalities. Jean was shy and thoughtful while Wanda, once she opened up and stopped being so nervous, was loud and blunt about her feelings. Still, the girls had just clicked and neither could imagine a better best friend than the other.<p>

"You should go for it," said Wanda softly. "You only live once Jean and if you really love him..." Wanda closed her eyes as she thought of her own feelings for Slade. If it was her she wouldn't even hesitate. "... then you should do what your heart tells you."

Jean smiled softly before frowning as she realized something. "God, I must be the worst friend in the world. Asking you that when you just finished telling me you like Slade."

Wanda just shrugged even though Jean couldn't see it. "No, you're a good friend. You just need advice and I'm your best friend so it makes sense. Plus..." Wanda's smile turned wistful. "... As long as you two are happy, I'm happy. You two are the most important people in the world for me. Other than my brother, of course. I want you two to be happy."

Jean smiled and started to get dressed. On the other side of the wall, Wanda started getting dressed as well. Once Jean finished, she turned to the wall separating her and Wanda.

"Wanda?"

"Yeah?"

Jean bit her lip. "Promise me you'll take care of Slade once I leave. You know the trouble he always seems to attract."

Wanda bit her lip in thought and nodded her head. "Okay, I promise. But I also promise to protect you too."

Suddenly, they heard Slade's voice on the other side of the door to Jean's dressing room. "Hey, you girls alright? You've been in there for a long time..."

Wanda smirked. "Oh, we were just comparing cup sizes. Want to know our bra size?"

Wanda and Jean laughed as they heard Slade almost choke on his own spit at Wanda's words. After hearing him beat a hasty retreat, they picked up after themselves and left their dressing rooms with the swimsuits they were going to purchase. They walked up to the cash register and Slade followed after them, his face cherry red.

"Ha-ha, very funny, Wanda," grumbled Slade as he blushed.

Wanda just smirked. "That'll teach you to hurry up a girl when she's shopping. This is a delicate process of comparing and contrasting to pick the best article of clothing for every occasion."

Slade rolled his eyes. "You sound like an infomercial."

Wanda puffed up her cheeks in indignation while Jean and Slade laughed. After buying their bathing suits, Slade followed the girls for two hours as they went from store to store buying clothing for the summer. Slade swore he was going to have blood flow problems from the way Wanda (and Jean when Wanda pushed her to it) teased him with short shorts and tight shirts that emphasized their curves. He wondered why Wanda seemed to place such importance on his opinion but chalked it up to him being her only male friend.

However, they didn't only shop for the girls and the girls took turns in dressing Slade up in more and more outrageous clothing. He didn't think he'd ever live down being forced to dress up as a golfer with the stupid sweater and everything. It was so humiliating!

The girls just laughed at his humiliation but luckily, didn't force him to buy the clothes. He would have burned them the first chance he got but still, it was the principle of the thing.

After making a quick stop at home to drop off their purchases, the group were walking close to Central Park when they felt it.

For a moment their vision blurred slightly before all three flexed their respective gifts and breaking the illusion before it could take hold.

All three became much more alert due to the unexpected attack even though they continued to walk like nothing had happened. However, Slade was discreetly using his senses, both magical and not, to search for the source of the disturbance while Jean used her telepathy. Wanda was gathering magical energy for the showdown that was sure to come while trying to see what would be the best spot to have said showdown.

"Have you found them, Jean?" muttered Slade out the corner of his mouth.

"Yes," said Jean telepathically. "There are four of them coming from the south. From what I can read from their minds, they seem to be after Wanda. Do you think they're working with Pandora or Lilith?"

Slade's mouth was a grim line as Wanda led the group into a secluded part of the park as he felt the individuals in question try to surround them. "Don't know but we have to expect the worst. One of them almost caught us in a powerful illusion and if we didn't have experience protecting our minds from foreign intrusion, he would have gotten us. Worst thing is I think that that wasn't his full power so he could still trap us in an illusion if he wanted. He isn't simply because we're probably going where they want us to."

Jean and Wanda mentally agreed before the latter stopped walking and telepathically explaining why she stopped. "Okay, this is the best place to have a fight. Far enough away so any explosions won't be heard unless they're really big and there are no innocents to be caught in the crossfire."

With that, the three friends formed a triangle while looking out so they wouldn't be flanked. Slade's mouth was a grim line of determination as he called on his magic in a way that made his eyes glow a deep amber.

"Okay, come out whoever you are before we make you."

There was a beat of silence before the four stalkers came out of the undergrowth. There were three teenager and one adult. The adult looked to be in his 40s with grey hair while wearing a strange brown ensemble that looked like one of those detectives from decades ago. The three teenagers were three boys; one with white hair that looked sort of familiar for some reason, another with blond hair and tan colored skin and another boy with long black hair that looked very feminine.

Seeing that they couldn't flank us, the four formed a line in front of Slade, making Wanda and Jean stand beside him looking at their enemies.

Wanda was the first to speak as she scowled at their enemies. "Well, well. How manly of you men. One old man and three boys ganging up on one boy and two girls. You must feel so manly right now."

'Sorry for calling you a boy, Slade but it wouldn't have sounded as mocking if a said man.' telepathically said Wanda.

'No problem.'

To their surprise, the feminine looking boy scowled at them. "I'm a girl, idiots!"

All three of them blinked at that revelation and Wanda had a confused look on her face. "Really? Then one man, two boys and a girl that hasn't hit puberty yet..."

"I have hit puberty!"

"Well, hit it harder! I'm only 14 and even I have bigger breasts than you!" shot back Wanda.

Everyone except the now revealed manly-looking girl snorted at her words as they tried to keep their laughter in. The girl in question turned a deep red in either anger or embarrassment, probably both, and growled at her.

The blond ogled Wanda and put on a suave smile. "Yes, you do. And if I do say so myself, you are a fine specimen of a woman. Maybe you and I should ditch these idiots and talk about our good looks somewhere else."

Wanda blanched at the suggestion and actually took a step back in horror. "In your dreams. No, scratch that. Not even dream me would sink that low. Go mate with a dingo or something!"

The white-haired looked angry at the blonde's suggestion and took a step toward him in anger. "Hey, stay away from my sister!"

That brought them up short and Wanda looked at the boy with tears of happiness in her eyes. "Pietro? Is that really you?"

The now-revealed Pietro smiled at Wanda. "Yeah, it's me sis. That's Pyro, ignore him. The manly looking girl is Astra and the old man is Mastermind. I'm glad you're okay. Now come on, it's time to go."

Wanda looked confused at his words and took another step back. "Go? What do you mean?"

Pietro started to get agitated. "Escape from these people of course! I know they've probably been keeping you prisoner but I'm here now and we'll take them down so you don't have to be afraid anymore!"

Wanda looked at Pietro liked he'd lost his mind. "They're not keeping me prisoner! They're my friends and they very kindly saved me and took me in when I appeared her in New York when my powers emerged! Have you lost your mind?!"

Pietro was now openly snarling. "Oh really? So they just let you in free of charge into a mansion that's locked up tighter than Fort Knox and the only places you go are always accompanied by that asshole or that telepath who's probably messing with your head? Yeah, right!"

Wanda was getting frustrated. Sure, it sounded bad when you said it like that but Dr. Strange's mansion had been like that before she got there and it was just coincidence that she never left the house without Slade or Jean. It's not like she wanted to be alone all the time, she had her room for that!

Before Wanda could explain, Slade tried to defuse the situation. "Look, calm down. This is just a big misunder-"

"Save it, pretty boy. I'm going to enjoy beating your ass down like trash! By the time, I'm done with you you'll never be able to touch a woman again in your life much less my sister!"

At that, Jean's protective side came and her eyes started to glow white with power. "You won't touch him you white-haired bastard!"

Things were about to get violent when they heard the sound of female laughter coming from the side.

Both groups turned to see a beautiful woman with a curvaceous body wearing fishnet stocking and black shorts along with a tight blue shirt standing not far from them. Her face was hidden behind a carnival mask of a woman with a white background with deep red streaks around the eyes and the cheekbones. The only thing you could see were her eyes which were a deep sapphire blue that were currently glinting in amusement and her blond hair that reached her mid-back.

Pietro snarled at the newcomer. "Who are you supposed to be?!"

The woman just cocked her head at him. "Oh, don't mind me. I'm not here for you. I'm here for the handsome boy over there."

Pyro rubbed the back of his head and took a step forward. "Now, look beautiful I know I'm handsome and all but I'm sorry to say that I'm taken. I have my eye on that pretty little auburn-haired girl over there."

Beside Slade, Wanda turned green in disgust and looked as if she was going to throw up any minute.

Slade wasn't sure but he had the distinct feeling that the newcomer felt the same if the glare she was sending Pyro's way was any indication. "You? Please! You are hardly considered much less handsome. No, I've come to kill Strange."

Slade's eyes narrowed as he tried to act casual while really preparing his magic to defend himself. The newcomer was dangerous. They hadn't even sensed her before she spoke and Slade could almost feel the magic pouring out of her. Furthermore, he could feel something distinctly off about her magic.

Slade had once asked his father how he could differentiate the dark-magic users from the normal ones who simply abused normal kinds of magic. He had said that he would be able to feel the wrongness in their magic and from the distinct 'scent' they gave off, identify what kind of magic they are inclined to use. From that, one would know how to go about fighting your enemy.

The woman's magical aura gave off a feel of fire and death. It was faint so that meant she was knew to the art but unmistakable. She was a demon summoner.

Slade inwardly cursed. Demon summoners were the worst possible match-up for him. His style revolved around using alchemy and elemental attacks, usually lightning, wind and fire, to control the battlefield long enough to box in the enemy using runic arrays. However, demon summoners never attacked the opponent directly, instead using summoned demons to attack. Demons had an innate magical resistance that one needed higher tier magical spells to overcome. Sorcerers like his dad had no problem with them due to simply reciting the words of banishment to send them away before finding a way to negate the summoner's ability to summon demons.

However, Slade didn't know the words of banishment and even if he did, he had no training in using them. Banishing a demon wasn't as simple as simply reciting the words and that was that. The demon was only banished if one's will was stronger than the demons in question. Without training, the demon would overwhelm the caster and there was a risk of the demon possessing the sorcerer afterwards.

All of this passed through Slade's mind in less than a second and he quickly decided that the best course of action was maintaining the offensive so she didn't have the chance to summon any demons.

Pietro seemed to contemplate that before a cruel smile crossed his face. "Fine, kill him. But at least make it painful so he can suffer for taking advantage of my sister."

At this Wanda lost all control. "ARE YOU DEAF, PIETRO?! I ALREADY TOLD YOU THAT HE HASN'T DONE ANYTHING! HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?!"

Pietro just sneered. "Don't worry sis. We'll bring you to Magneto and he'll fix whatever damage they did to your mind to think they're innocent."

Wanda took a step back in shock at the fact that Pietro was basically saying he was gonna let someone mess with her mind and Jean angrily stopped forward. "You'll have to get through my dead body first."

Mastermind looked at the rapidly deteriorating atmosphere with a cocked eyebrow. "Shouldn't we take the boy alive? Three mutants are better than two and it would be a shame to lose him."

Pietro just scoffed. "Whatever, he deserves it. Asshole like that acting like he knows what's best for my sister. Bastard has it coming."

Slade looked away from them as Wanda angrily retorted and turned to the woman and started to activate the first part of his plan.

Slade had long been uncomfortable with the fact that he couldn't take his swords to school. After what happened with Pandora and Lilith, he had been rightly afraid of being attacked by them there. His katana wouldn't do much and he couldn't take Inanis but the simple fact of being able to carry one of his weapons made him feel better. Therefore, he had endeavored to find a solution.

Inanis was easy since it would magically appear in his hands when he called for it. However, there was still a few second interval between it appearing in his hands and he being able to hide it under Invisible Earth and he couldn't risk summoning it now and the woman identifying it. That would defeat the purpose.

Luckily, when Raizo has started training him with an O-katana, he had started studying ways to be able to carry it at all times. At first he had thought of hiding it much like he hides Inanis but that was a no-go since he couldn't summon like Inanis and even if one couldn't see it, didn't mean one couldn't mistakenly bump into it. Well, more like be cut into pieces by the Invisible Earth hiding it but the idea was the same.

So, Slade had instead turned to runes. With great effort, Slade had created a runic scheme that would create a small pocket dimension where he could store a few things. It wasn't infinite and he could only put a maximum of five things but it worked to store his O-katana in there. He had then drawn the rune scheme on all his belts and would store it in the belt he was wearing that day. All he had to do was channel magic to the scheme to release it.

Slade did that now and everyone stopped as the 7 foot long o-katana appeared in his left hand, sheath and all. The blade had an ornate bronze guard with the handle having the traditional gold wrapping, with black ornaments, while the guard itself was octagonal. The scabbard was black, made of traditional lacquered wood, and had a metallic silver depiction of a dragon on the far end.

Slade slowly drew the blade from the scabbard, attracting every eye as they felt the power the blade was giving off. Once the blade was free from the scabbard, everyone studied the blade itself.

The blade featured several intricate ornaments, most notable was a relief of a red dragon at the endpoint of the hilt. From the dragon's mouth was an exquisite wave-like pattern that glimmered down the blade that made it seem as if the dragon near the hilt was breathing fire. When the light caught it in a certain angle, the lines shone red like fire, enhancing the idea of the dragon breathing fire.

As everyone was distracted by the blade's appearance, Slade thought about the upgrades he'd recently given the blade.

It hadn't taken long for Slade to realize that his o-katana wouldn't stand up any other magical or legendary blade like Inanis. Beings like Pandora, when they lowered themselves to, typically summoned magical weapons attached to their concepts. Lilith, for example, summoned a whip that could either fill a person with unbearable lust or cut through any defense, save mystical ones, and rip flesh from bone. Therefore, Slade had to upgrade his o-katana to at least be able to stand up to legendary weapons.

Therefore, Slade had taken an o-katana made of stainless steel and inscribed it with runes of the First Language. The result had Slade's blade which he called the Yamato in honor of the famous sword from his favorite game, Devil May Cry. The wave-like patterns hid runes that made it unbreakable, eternally sharp, and allowed Slade to channel his magic down it. The runes would take his magic and change it into fires as hot as he wished them to be, giving him a way to attack from long-range. The sheath also had runes inscribed along it to make it unbreakable so that the blade wouldn't cut it in half when he holstered it… it only happened once!

There were also an engraving of Fate/Kaleidoscope of the First Language hidden along the length that ruled over the realms of Space and Time that did something very special…

Slade tied the sheath to his belt before smiling at the masked woman. "So you got a name, lady or should I just call you lady?"

The woman seemed to smile behind her mask. "My name is Nightwitch. So tell me, do you know how to use that blade or is it just for show?"

Feeling mischievous, Slade decided to mess with their enemies a bit. "Sure. First I whip it out, then I thrust it with great force. Every angle, it penetrates. Until, with great strength, I ram it in. In the end, we're all satisfied and you are set free!"

The clearing was silent at his explanation. Wanda and Jean seemed to have their minds elsewhere if the slight bit of drool escaping their mouths was any indication. Pietro seemed furious, as if he'd personally offended him. Pyro... you know what Slade didn't even want to interpret what the look on his face meant. Mastermind just rolled his eyes at his immaturity while Astra seemed to be imagining something if the muttering of 'Yes, Master Magnus I'll clean it' said anything. Nightwitch hadn't outwardly reacted but Slade got the idea that she was amused by his words.

"Well, you're not the only one with a blade." With those words, Nightwitch summoned a normal looking katana from a portal that appeared from the floor. She pulled it and using his magical senses, Slade could sense that unlike his sword, it was enchanted meaning she had skill in casting enchantments rather than inscribing runes.

Slade looked from her blade to his. "Mine is bigger than yours."

If this was an anime, everyone would have face-faulted at his words.

Nightwitch just smiled behind her mask. "True. Are you compensating for something?"

"It's not compensation, its representation."

Everyone stopped to stare at the one who said that because it certainly wasn't Slade.

Jean blushed under their incredulous stares, while beside her Wanda was staring at her in envy. "What?! He's my boyfriend and I have needs, dammit!"

Slade tried and failed to keep the proud smile off his face while Wanda looked from Slade to his o-katana and muttered, "Lucky bitch."

Even Astra was looking at Jean with a hint of envy in her eyes. Behind her mask, Astrid was amused at Jean's words but didn't put much stock in them. 'Please, it's obviously an exaggeration. I doubt she's even seen his dick.'

Pietro looked furious at the envy in Wanda's eyes. "That's it, you asshole! I'm gonna kill you for taking advantage of my sister! Then I'm gonna kick your ass, Wanda, and drag you back with me if I have to!"

Before Wanda could react, Pietro pulled a knife from his pocket and super-sped toward Slade until the knife was a foot from his face. Luckily for Slade, he had been reinforcing his body since Pietro and his group appeared. While not as fast as Pietro, he was fast enough to dodge the knife's stab.

Pietro was surprised. While he wasn't as fast as him, the kid was faster than almost anyone he'd seen before not counting him. He was so surprised that he didn't have time to react to Slade's return attack which was to spin slightly while on his knees and hitting Pietro in the stomach with the sheath of his blade.

Pietro flew backward from the strength behind the blow which was strong enough to crack a rib and send him flying backward a few feet and into Pyro's face causing to fall down in a heap. Luckily, Pietro dropped the knife while in the air due to the pain of the hit. Slade instantly took up a defensive stance as Nightwitch tried to take advantage of Pietro's attack to launch her own in the form of mystic bolts which Slade was forced to dodge.

Pietro's attack took the last semblance of control that Wanda had. It was bad enough that he attacked Slade and was trying to tell her what to do. No one told her what to do. However, she could handle that.

However, Pietro had tried to kill the boy she secretly loved and who was one of her closest friends. That she couldn't forgive.

With a scream of rage, Wanda's fist shone red with her magical power as she charged Astra who had drawn some sort of metal stick that extended into a metal staff in order to protect Pietro while was down. Jean wasn't far behind her, equally as angry but concentrating on trying to keep Mastermind from casting illusions over them.

Pietro quickly got up and super-sped toward Wanda, trying to knock her out quickly so she wouldn't be hurt during the fight. However, Wanda was used to fighting people stronger than (Slade, Raizo, etc.) and so always had a thin but strong barrier of chaos magic surrounding her body whenever she entered battle. Pietro tried to punch the back of her head in order to knock her out but only succeeded in burning his fist on the barrier before, with a yelp of pain, he was forced to retreat. Pietro thought that the barrier was something her captors had put on her so she wouldn't be knocked out and rescued.

(AN: I know, he's an idiot).

Wanda was pushed forward only slightly by his attempted attack but it was enough for Astra to jump forward and attempt to bash her over the head with her metal pole. Luckily, Jean was watching her back and telekinetically grabbed the pole and ripped it from her hands before she could do any damage with it.

Mastermind quickly realized that his illusions were being thwarted by Jean and jumped back in order to completely concentrate on his illusions. Even if he could only ensnare Jean into one, it would at least keep her out of the fight long enough for his teammates to knock out Wanda. Then, they would take down Jean together.

* * *

><p><strong>With Slade<strong>

Meanwhile, Slade cursed as he was forced to cut through another mystic bolt with his blade. Nightwitch was good. Who knew you could control your mystic bolt after it had already been cast? Nightwitch was obviously a master since she somehow managed to get her mystic bolts to follow Slade while throwing blades of wind at him that he was forced to dodge or cut through with his blade lest he get filleted.

Finally having enough of being on the defense, Slade channeled magic through his blade and swung Yamato in an arc so that a line of white-hot fire flew toward Nightwitch.

Astrid was momentarily surprised at the skill and power it took to do that even with an enchanted blade (which is what she thought his blade was) before summoning a magical shield to take the hit. This turned out to be a mistake because she underestimated the power behind the attack and had to channel more magic into the shield so it wouldn't fall.

Once the fire stopped, she barely had time to put up her katana to block Slade's as he had used the lack of vision caused by his fire to close in on her.

The two sorcerers exchanged a lightning fast barrage of slashes and strikes, each trying to be faster than the other. Astrid cursed as she was forced back by Slade's skill with a blade. The only reason she had survived so far was sheer experience. It was this very experience that warned her when she saw him point his left palm at her as she saw magic gather in his palm.

"Kasai!" yelled out Slade. A powerful stream of fire was launched from his left hand at Nightwitch.

It was only thanks to her experience and instincts that she had dodged to her left in time to dodge the stream of fire. She blocked Slade's slash and took advantage of his overextending himself to kick him in the chest and therefore giving her space.

Slade grunted at the force of the kick and was pushed back a few feet. He tried to close in before she could use a spell but was too slow.

"Jaculatio Grandinis!" yelled out Nightwitch. A dozen densely packed spears of ice appeared hovering over her and were instantly launched at Slade.

Slade was forced to backpedal further to dodge them effectively and destroyed the last ones with a quick slash of fire through his blade. When he destroyed the last one, he cursed as he felt an upsurge of magic coming from Nightwitch.

"Crystallitatio Tellustris!" yelled out Nightwitch. Instantly the ground around her froze as a line of jagged pillars of ice rose out of the ground toward Slade.

Cursing, Slade quickly slammed his left hand into the ground while forming an alchemical array in the palm of his hand, transmuting the earth to rise in the form of a earth wall protecting him from the jagged pillars of ice. The earth wall did its job and blocked the ice pillars from stabbing him but froze due to the effect of the spell.

Slade quickly jumped on top of the wall and swung his blade while yelling, "Lacarnum Inflamarae!" which caused a large white-hot fireball to crash into Nightwitch's "Malleus Aquilonis!" The fireball crashed into the large ice ball launched at Slade, each canceling out the other.

Slade was caught off-guard when he heard the yell of "Nivis Casus!" coming from his right and saw an honest-to-God freaking avalanche of snow heading his way.

"Danku!" yelled out Slade as he summoned his strongest magical shield. A transparent large rectangular shield formed in front of him, blocking the attack. The avalanche crashed into his shield with overwhelming force and Slade grunted as he felt it reverberate in his bones. The snow flowed around his shield, covering everything behind him and to his sides in several feet of snow.

Slade's eyes widened as he saw his shield about to fail and jumped up just in time to avoid being crushed by the snow. He swung his blade in a circle around him in mid-air and incanted, "Haien!", making an arc of purple-black flame surround him and melt any snow around where he landed as well as block a "Glacius!" from Nightwitch.

Astrid cursed as she saw him melt almost 2/3 of the snow she had conjured as well as set a few trees on fire. It was lucky she had cast a barrier around the area that kept them in while making anyone outside see nothing of what was happening inside. If not, she'd have to retreat for fear of being caught by Dr. Strange. But seriously, just how strong was this brat?! He's shown more skill than most people twice his age!

Astrid raised her empty left hand at Slade before incanting, "Hyoga Seiran!" summoning an avalanche of ice toward Slade.

Seeing the danger coming towards him and sensing the girls behind him so he couldn't dodge without endangering them, Slade swung his blade while incanting, "Incendium Gehenrae!" which sent a wave of hellfire toward Nightwitch. He quickly raised his left hand and incanted, "Ventas Giostinus!" which summoned a cyclone of wind from his hand right behind his summoned hellfire.

The combination worked as he thought and the wind picked up the hellfire, turning into a cyclone of hellfire twice as hot as normal hellfire. The ice avalanche clashed with Slade's hellfire cyclone for a second before the hellfire cyclone smashed through it, melting all the ice before going toward Nightwitch.

Astrid's eyes widened in fear as she saw the cyclone of hellfire bearing toward her and she quickly slammed her left hand into the ground before incanting, "Evocatio: Rashomon!". Instantly, a giant gate with a demonic face appeared in front of her, blocking the hellfire cyclone. The gate groaned at the pressure and heat caused by the cyclone and Astrid jumped to the side in time to dodge the explosion caused as the hellfire cyclone destroying the Demonic Gate before dispersing.

'Shit!' thought Astrid frantically. 'How much power does this kid have?! That was a Demonic Gate made to hold higher-tier demons from entering our plane! Even Mephisto would have a bit of a problem breaking it. Yet this kid broke it with a combination elemental spell! It's official. He's too strong. I have to kill him before he becomes too much of a threat.'

With that thought in mind, Astrid sealed away her katana and slammed both hands into the ground before incanting, "Gelidus Capulus!" The ground around her started to freeze as it quickly expanded toward Slade.

Slade's eyes widened as his instincts screamed at him. He pushed magic into his legs and jumped straight up in time for the ground around him to freeze and a giant coffin of ice to close in where he was just standing. He landed on top the ice and slammed his hands into the ground to form a pillar of earth beneath him. The pillar rose him above the battlefield and he caught sight of Nightwitch just in time to catch the ending of her spell.

"-vocatio: Atronaquis Flamma!"

The Nightwitch slammed her hands into the ground and a summoning circle appeared in front of her. In the middle of the circle, a demonic entity of fire and darkness rose. A Flame Atronach.

Slade started to become afraid. Unlike what was shown in video games, the Flame Atronach was no easy kill. Their veins had lava running through them instead of blood and their flames were demonic in nature meaning they could melt all but legendary weapons and armaments. Slade didn't think that his o-katana could stand up to its demonic flame.

Nightwitch pointed at him and said, "Kill him!"

The Flame Atronach roared.

* * *

><p><strong>With Jean and Wanda <strong>

The girls were having more trouble than they'd thought taking down the group of four mutants. While their teamwork was shoddy at best, they made up for it by their sheer determination and in Pietro's case, anger.

Jean cursed as she was forced to keep a telekinetic shield around her at all times in order to block Pietro's lightning fast punches. At the same time she had to concentrate on blocking Mastermind's illusions which were steadily making their way through her mental shields. When this was over, Jean promised herself to concentrate more on her telepathic skills.

Wanda was having just as much trouble as Jean. Pietro would every now and then try to punch her to see if her personal chaos shield was down which wore on her magical reserves. Meanwhile, Wanda kept trying to blast Pyro but kept missing due to the bastard's reflexes and leaping ability. Astra made things worse by summoning mechanical weapon after weapon that she was forced to dodge.

Wanda dodged under Astra's metal pole and incanted, "Forzare!" The spell sent a powerful telekinetic push at her, causing her to fly back and slam into a tree with tremendous force, causing her to pass out unconscious. Wanda didn't have time to celebrate her victory as Pyro was suddenly in front of her and threw something on her face.

Wanda let out a shriek right before the explosive putty hardened, blocking her mouth and nose and therefore preventing her from breathing. Wanda fell to the floor, desperately trying to rip the hardened stuff from her face to no avail.

Pyro gave a smug smirk. "Sorry, beautiful, but that stuff is impossible to destroy by hand. You'd need a lot of power to break it and even then it will blow your head clean off, so just go to sleep and this will all be over."

Pietro relaxed as he saw his sister be hit by Pyro's hardened putty. He knew from experience that that stuff was as strong as steel and impossible to break by hand for anyone but Pyro. They'd wait for her to pass out unconscious due to lack of oxygen and then break it before taking her back to base.

Jean heard Wanda's shriek and her eyes widened as she saw her friend's predicament. She made a step toward her but by doing so, lost concentration on her telekinetic shield. This allowed Pietro to punch her in the face, throwing her back. She put up her shield again in time to block another attack but lowered her mental shields in the process.

Mastermind's illusions started to enter her mind and she tried to block out the vertigo from suddenly being a thousand feet in the air and falling.

'It's not real, it's not real,' chanted Jean mentally. However, this was little help as she felt people hitting her telekinetic shield and was forced to keep it up less she be knocked out unconscious. 'Shit, if this keeps up, I'll pass out from overexerting myself! I shouldn't have held back! If I didn't this would be over by now!'

* * *

><p><strong>Back with Wanda<strong>

She was thinking the same thing. She had instinctively held back, thinking that if she didn't it would be overkill. However, they proved her wrong and she felt herself fading as she ran out of oxygen. 'No! I won't lose! If I do then they'll kill Slade and take Jean prisoner. Even if Pietro is my brother, I won't allow him to hurt my friends!'

Summoning her magical energy into her fist, Wanda brought it down on her face, hurting her but at the same time breaking the hardened putty.

Pyro and Pietro saw what she did and were shocked and angered respectively. They hadn't thought of her risking hurting her face to escape.

Wanda got up and her eyes glowed red with her chaos magic. "Playtime is over!" Wanda let loose her magic and it acted like lightning coursing out of her. Pietro and Pyro had to rely on their speed and reflexes respectively to dodge the chaotic magic. Suddenly, Wanda was in Pyro's face and she incanted, "Arctis!" Her fist gained an aura of frost and she punched Pyro with it in the face.

As soon as her fist made contact with his face, he froze in a block of ice before flying back a few feet. Pietro was shocked at what happened and grew angry before super-speeding toward Wanda.

Wanda sensed him coming and slammed her foot in the ground before incanting, "Geodas!" And a sinkhole appeared in front of Wanda. Pietro was going too fast to stop himself from running into it and fell into the hole. Wanda telekinetically threw Astra's unconscious form into the hole as well.

Wanda quickly slammed her hand on the edge of the sinkhole and incanted, "Culmen Plutonis!" Pillars of earth crisscrossed across the opening, blocking Astra and Pietro's escape.

In the hole, Pietro ran up the wall but for the first time was too slow as the pillars of earth blocked his escape leaving only small cracks in between for air.

"Wanda! Wanda, let me out!" yelled Pietro.

Wanda ignored her brother before turning to her best female friend. Wanda saw Jean's eyes glazed over from Mastermind's illusions and ran forward. She slammed into Jean's shield and seeing that Jean wouldn't hear her, telepathically called her, "Jean! Jean, its Wanda. Lower your shield, I took care of Pyro and my brother!"

Jean heard Wanda's telepathic call but hesitated in responding. 'What if it's a trick? What if this is another of Mastermind's illusions?'

"Jean, trust me! Remember what we talked about before this? About Slade? I promised to protect him but I also swore to protect you too! So lower the shield!"

That got Jean's attention and she lowered her shield. She felt Wanda's familiar touch on her back even though she still couldn't see her. Now that she knew she was safe physically, Jean focused all her mental strength on pushing Mastermind's illusions form her mind. The world wavered before shattering, showing the park again.

Jean's eyes widened as she saw the damage their battle had caused the park. There were patches of ice along the ground while some treetops were aflame. However, Jean instantly turned to where she sensed Mastermind and sent her most powerful telekinetic push in that direction.

Mastermind's eyes widened as he saw the trees be uprooted by the force of Jean's telekinetic push. He barely had time to cover his head with his arms before a tree trunk slammed into him, throwing yards back and slamming him into the barrier around protecting them from the outside world.

Seeing Mastermind go down, Jean and Wanda turned to Slade in time to see him throw a powerful lightning bolt toward the ground from his position in the air. Both girls covered their eyes from the flash and felt Slade land beside them.

* * *

><p><strong>Back with Slade (a few minutes before)<strong>

Slade cursed as he kept his left hand connected to the slide of earth he was transmuting in order to dodge the fireballs and ice attacks from the demon and Nightwitch.

The moment the demon had entered the fight, Slade quickly lost the advantage. The demon would block any fire attacks he sent toward the Nightwitch to cancel her ice attacks, making it stronger as it ate his flames. Not even hellfire affected it.

Meanwhile, Nightwitch became much more lethal as all her attacks were aiming to kill him if they landed. Her Ensis Exsequens spell was nasty piece of work. It was technically an ice attack. However, rather than working by lowering the temperature of whatever it hit, it worked by causing an instant phase transition of anything it landed on from solid to gas. It looked like a line of ice was forming toward Slade but in reality the spell itself was invisible. The pillar of ice was created by its passage. If it landed his entire body would undergo phase transition from solid (or liquid) to gas, causing his death instantly.

To make matters worse, even it missed it caused everything around its field of passage to freeze from the phase transition. After all, the heat to cause the transition had to come from somewhere and the spell took it from the environment around the spell's field of passage. There was no doubt in Slade's mind that this spell would be considered dark magic.

Slade's eyes widened in surprise as Nightwitch appeared in front of him chanting, "Ensis Exsequens!" Slade barely dodged the spell by jumping off his transmuted earth slide. He was forced to use shundo to dodge the flame Atronach's flame punch. Slade quickly transmuted a thick earth wall to protect him and give him a second or two of time.

'Okay. I won't win as long as that demon is around. I'll have to get rid of it but it'll take too much magic to use brute force. Therefore, I'll have to use plan B. Damn, this is gonna hurt! I hate elemental demons!"

Slade jumped on top of the earth wall and jumped toward the Flame Atronach just as it the wall itself underwent violent phase transition. Slade used his blade to block all of the Atronach's attacks while keeping it between Slade and the Nightwitch.

Astrid was confused as to the reason behind Slade's reckless charge at the Flame Atronach. Maybe he had given up and wanted to die fighting?

However, Astrid soon got her answer as Slade jumped above the Flame Atronach's swing and instead of slashing at it with his o-katana like she thought he would. He slammed his left palm which had a flicker of something purple in it onto the Flame Atronach's flame skin.

There was a beat of silence before the Flame Atronach roared in pain before dispersing in a shower of light. Astrid was so stunned that she barely had the presence of mind to know what to do when she saw Slade on his knees clutching his burned left hand.

Meanwhile, Slade was clutching his left hand in pain. The Demon/Banish rune of the First Language worked and banished the demon. However, the rune had its drawbacks. Demons like the Flame Atronachs weren't summoned from True Hell but instead came from a sort of hell outpost that was present in every multiverse. However, the Demon/Banish rune banishes the demon back toward True Hell beyond the Outer Gates. It technically didn't break seventh law since he didn't call anything in from beyond the Outer Gates but rather pushed something out. However, this came with drawback which Slade was currently experiencing.

Slade bit back a yell as the demon's corrupted magic merged with his own. Luckily, Slade had never dabbled in dark magic and so his magic was pure enough to cleanse the demon's own and simply take in the positives of its magic. It was lucky that the Flame Atronach was a lower-tier demon. If not, it's magic would be much darker. As it was, it was wilder than dark and easy to purify. The positive of the situation was that now Slade would have even greater control over fire.

The bad news was that Nightwitch took advantage of Slade's pain to summon two Frost Atronachs.

Slade felt his spirits plummet. There was no way he could repeat his feat with two demons of a higher tier than the Flame Atronach. Not without their dark magic corrupting him. That was without even counting that using the Demon/Banish rune took a lot of magic due to him not understanding its concept. He basically just shoved magic into the rune and hoped for the best.

That wouldn't work now so that meant he'd have to go for Plan C. He quickly transmuted an earth wall to start his plan.

Astrid smirked as the two Frost Atronachs appeared. She doubted the boy would be able to repeat his feat, whatever it was. Though she wouldn't be able to summon anymore demons, this should be enough. The mental strain of summoning three demons and maintaining control of two at a time was her limit. As it was, she wouldn't be able to incant any spells less she lose control of the Frost Atronachs. However, she had faith that they would be enough.

Astrid frowned as she saw Slade jump out from behind his earth wall and charged toward her. He must think he could get by her Atronachs and take her out. A good plan but she wouldn't let it happen.

She mentally commanded the Atronachs to surround her and saw the boy try to slide between one Atronach's feet only to get caught by the other. The Atronach slammed him into the ground in front of her, causing him to grunt in pain.

Astrid smirked down at Slade through her mask. "Well, boy. You gave a good show but I'm afraid it's time for you to die."

The boy smirked, causing her unease, before muttering, "Boom."

Suddenly, the 'boy' turned into lightning before exploding into a bomb of electricity. The Frost Atronachs screamed in pain along with Astrid. The lightning was strong enough to shatter her mask, revealing her 'face' to the world.

Astrid grunted as the lightning passed and her eyes looked around searching for Slade. 'A solid clone made of lightning?! His mastery of lightning must be on the genius level! Where is he?!'

Astrid's eyes widened as she felt magic gathering above her and she looked up to see Slade pointing both hands at her with a large ball of lightning in gathering in them.

"Raikoho!" yelled out Slade and a large bolt of lightning flew toward the ground toward her and the Atronachs. He had resealed Yamato in order to cast this spell and he wasn't going to waste the chance.

It was only her ability to use shundo, which was basically high-speed movement, and her wrapping herself in her strongest magical shield that saved Astrid from the attack. Her Atronachs were not as lucky.

Already weakened from being right on top of the lightning clone when it exploded, the Thunder Cannon as it was so aptly named tore into them and shattered them instantly. They didn't stand a chance.

Slade used the force of sending the lightning to push himself toward where he saw the girls and landed between them.

"Slade!" yelled out Jean in concern when she saw the state of his hand. The palm was burned and Slade looked to be in constant pain from it. "What happened?!"

Slade grunted as he stood to his feet. "She's strong. Almost as strong as my father. I don't think I can keep this up if this keeps going."

Just as he said that a portion of cover of the hole where Wanda had trapped Pietro and Astra exploded outward, leaving a hole large enough for someone to come out. Pietro took advantage and super-sped out while carrying Astra who was carrying what looked like a bazooka. "We're not out of this yet! I'm taking my sister home if it's the last thing I do!"

Wanda wanted to scream in frustration. What the hell would it take for Pietro to get the message that she already had a home!? That she was happy and had friends and wasn't being kept prisoner!?

Slade gritted his teeth as he saw Nightwitch appear from the smoke. It seemed as if his attack broke her mask because he saw her face now for the first time. Despite this, he decided this had gone on long enough. "Girls, protect me while I finish this."

The girls nodded and cast their strongest shields around them with Slade in the center. Slade started an incantation to finish the fight once and for all. "Heed the contract and serve me, O Susanoo Lord of the Sea and Storms..."

Astrid staggered out of the smoke in anger as she saw Slade standing between the girls while they held up a shield. How can one person be so powerful!? This couldn't be natural! He was only fifteen for God's sake! She'd heard of geniuses but dammit!

Astrid stiffened as she heard Slade's incantation, "...zing thunder. Hurl down one hundred times and even one thousand times!"

'No way. There's no way a fifteen year old could be capable of casting one of those.' thought Astrid frantically. But she was proven wrong when she heard him finish the incantation.

"Thousand thunderbolts!"

Astrid instantly slammed both hands onto the ground and used the last of her magic to incant, "Evocatio: Triple Rashomon!" Three demonic gates appeared around her in the form of a dome in order to protect her.

It was lucky she did because Slade's master-level lightning spell worked and the clouds that had been forming in the sky threw down thunderbolt after thunderbolt as if Susanoo himself was throwing them.

The barrier held for one second before collapsing, thunderbolts landed around Slade and his friends indiscriminately around the clearing. A dozen landed on Astrid's Demonic Gates alone and two shattered leaving the third one damaged.

Pietro had reacted when he saw the thunderbolts start to fall and picked up Mastermind, Pyro and Astra before jumping back into the hole. This was what saved him as the thunderbolts slammed into the earth pillars that were left covering the hole and leaving him and his teammates shaken but alive.

The thunderbolts stopped falling soon after, leaving the sky clear of clouds and people around the city gossiping about if what they saw was real or part of some freaky special effects.

Slade collapsed as that spell used up the last of his strength. He still had some magic but he no longer had the strength to cast anything. "Wanda," gasped out Slade. "The barrier is down. Get us out of here. Take us to Alpha Point."

Wanda nodded her head in understanding and after casting one last look toward the hole her brother was that was half angry/ half worried, she created a portal. Jean and Wanda quickly threw an arm of Slade's around their shoulders each and pulled him through, the portal closing behind him.

Just as the portal closed, Pietro super-sped out of the hole and looked around in anger. "Dammit! They got away! Astra! Where are they?!"

Astra pulled herself out of the hole while Pyro jumped out with Mastermind. Astra pulled out her screen only to hiss and throw it away when she saw it had fried and was letting out sparks to show its damaged state. "Dammit! It must have fried from the lightning at the end. It's useless, Pietro. I'll have to build another from scratch and that'll take me a year at least since I no longer have a sample of her mutant signature on hand. I used the only one to make this one."

Pietro gritted his teeth in anger. "Then I'll just search the city by myself if I have to."

"I don't think so, Pietro."

Pietro stiffened at the voice and turned to see Magneto himself hovering above them. He showed no outward sign of anger but they could see it in his eyes.

Magneto looked from one to the other before speaking. "You disobeyed my direct order and came here to face someone you were outmatched by. You were lucky that the elder Strange wasn't here. Now, we are returning to base. Now."

Pietro tried to argue. "But Wanda is-"

"Is gone. We have no way to know where she is. She could be in another state by now thanks to your rash actions. I will not risk our exposure before we are ready. Now we are going."

Pietro gritted his teeth but nodded. He knew better than to try and argue. Magneto was simply too powerful at the moment and he would rip him to pieces.

Plus, Pietro was tired even though he didn't want to admit it. His knuckles were bleeding from all those punches into their shields. He was too weak now to try another rescue, especially with Wanda turned against him.

However, there would be a reckoning someday and Pietro promised himself that he would kill anyone who got between him and his sister. Only he knew what was best for her.

After all, it's a brother's job to take care of his sister, right?

* * *

><p><strong>With Astrid<strong>

Astrid cursed as she stumbled out of Central Park under an illusion. While out of magic, she always had a few items on her that held their own enchantments for just such an occasion. Her habit of seducing powerful sorcerers for their secrets and then killing them tended to need her to be ready for just such an occasion.

Astrid reviewed her battle with young Strange. He was powerful, there was no doubt about it. His mastery of the elements was equal to her own and his large skill-set allowed him to have a solution ready for most situations. Yes, if allowed to grow he would become a large threat. Probably even stronger than the elder Strange and her father.

That thought brought her pause.

Yes, he would become stronger than either. He would probably discover secrets and powers that she could only dream of. If he mastered the lightning element at fourteen, who knew what he would be capable of when he was older. Maybe master Time and Space itself like Kischur? Or maybe Death like it has been whispered was possible among the wizards?

A wicked smile crossed Astrid's face as the possibilities rose. Yes, she would lie to her father. She would say that he was nothing special and she let him live. This would keep him from investigating Slade too closely and realize her deception.

Then, once Slade had become truly powerful she would move in and seduce him before taking all his secrets. Yes, that was a perfect plan. After all, he didn't know how she truly looked like and she was quite beautiful. What red-blooded male could resist her, after all?

Astrid touched her face as a thought crossed her mind.

This meant she would have to abandon studying the higher levels of demon summoning. Summoning demonic elemental Atronachs was fine since it was basic. However, the higher levels allowed her summon truly powerful demons that could be a problem for even the elder Strange.

The downside would be that she would age rapidly and her beauty would fade as a consequence of the things she'd have to do to master the art. At first, she had thought it would be worth it. She might lose her beauty but she'd gain power beyond her wildest dreams, being able to command powerful demons at a whim.

However, the ugliness was impossible to hide through glamours and if she wanted to get close to Slade she needed to be beautiful. Even if she hid her ugliness behind powerful illusions, he would sense it and he would be impossible to get close to.

No, she would abandon that branch of magic for now. She could always come back to it later, after she'd stolen every one of the younger Strange's secrets. For now, she'd concentrate on other branches of magic that she'd neglected.

"Hmmm... yes. Don't worry young Strange. Next time we meet I hope it'll much more pleasurable. For the both of us."

* * *

><p><strong>With Slade, Wanda and Jean<strong>

Slade groaned as he sat on the ground with help from Jean. His left hand was wrapped in medical gauze and Jean was fussing over him as she wrapped medical gauze around his bare chest as well. Wanda had set up a few barriers that made them invisible to non-magicals and was now calling his father on her cell phone and telling them where they were.

They were currently sitting on the torch of the Statue of Liberty. It was their Alpha Point to escape in case something happened due to the fact that no one would think of it. Public access to the balcony around the torch where they were sitting had been barred since 1916 and the cleaning crew only passed at the end of the month. The cleaning crew had already passed a week ago so they were safe from discovery.

Wanda hung up and his dad and she turned to Slade with worried eyes. "He's on his way and he's bringing Agatha and Wong. He says not to move too much so as to not agitate your wounds. You might have a broken rib which was made worse from the fact you kept fighting through it."

Slade smiled grimly. "Not like she gave me much choice. She was too strong to stop to heal myself."

Jean finished wrapping medical gauze around his chest and brought him into a fierce kiss. "Don't scare me like that again, Strange. It was bad enough when you passed out after the Pandora Incident. At least then it was just magical exhaustion. Now you burned your hand and broke a rib as well. It seems like you're getting worse every time."

Slade gave her a wry smile. "Sorry, Jean. Promise to do my best so it won't happen again."

Just then, a portal opened behind them and Dr. Strange, Agatha and Wong stepped out, the latter carrying a medical bag. Wong caught sight of Slade and instantly walked toward him with Strange and Agatha right behind him.

Wong put down his bag and opened it before taking out a cream and some medical gauze that had a strange aura to Slade's magical senses. "Let me check over your work, Miss Grey. I have no doubt you did it well but sometimes magical injuries do damage that can't be healed by normal means.

Jean nodded and surrendered her seat beside Slade on the ground to Wong. Wong quickly checked the bandages around his chest first. He poked Slade slightly along his right side, causing him to hiss in pain.

"Yes, definitely a broken rib. Luckily, it isn't magical in nature yet still quite severe. This cream can heal that with magic since it wasn't caused by magic in the first place. Do you know how it happened exactly?"

Slade shook his head. "Honestly, I was punched, thrown and downright tossed like a rag doll so many times that I didn't keep track when it was exactly. Though I think it was when the Flame Atronach first punched me."

Strange's eyes widened. "A Flame Atronach? Explain to me what happened. Now."

And so Slade told him about his fight with the Nightwitch while Jean and Wanda chipped in with their fight as well. Strange's eyes became more and more stormy and a frown crossed his face as they continued. By the end, he was downright furious.

However, Agatha spoke first. "You said that you banished the Flame Atronach with the Demon/Banish rune, correct?" At seeing his nod, Agatha stretched out her hand toward his left. "Let us see it."

Having been done instructing Jean on how to place the magical healing cream onto wounds as well as guiding her as she removed Slade's chest bandages, placed the cream and rewrapped Slade with Wong's magical gauze that promoted healing, Wong turned to Slade's left hand. Knowing that this wound was magical in nature, he slowly unwrapped it in order to cause Slade the least pain possible. Once unwrapped everyone hissed at the sight.

Slade's left palm was cracked and burned as if it had been left over a fire for too long. It was obviously magical since the back of his hand looked fine while the palm looked like it had been overcooked.

Both Agatha and Strange leaned forward to study the wound with their magical senses and their eyes narrowed as they saw it start to bleed again.

Agatha was the first to speak. "While you did manage to purify the Atronach's dark magic, using Thunder Cannon right after was foolish. It forced your magic that had just been fighting the dark magic to gather around the very spot where it was originally infected, slowing down the purifying process. The result was that the little dark magic that wasn't purified gathered around your palm which is why the wound is so bad and still bleeding."

Strange spoke. "Luckily, I can fix this. You'll still be unable to use it for a day or two even with Wong's cream but at least it won't become infected with dark magic."

With that, Strange placed his hands over Slade's burned palm and gathered light magic in the form of an orb. Little specks of light traveled from the orb toward Slade's palm and where they landed, the skin became lighter in color. Eventually, all the darkness in his palm disappeared leaving it burned but not as burned as before. Now it simply looked like Slade had put his hand on a hot pan.

As soon as Strange finished, Wong led Jean through the right way to use the cream for magical wounds since it was different from normal one before helping her rewrap his hand. Slade hesitantly flexed his hand and while it hurt, it hurt less than before.

Slade turned to everyone and smiled. "Thanks."

Strange smiled. "No problem, son." Then, he frowned. "This business of a demon summoner unsettles me. There are few who would risk learning that art due to the drawbacks. You said that from her aura she was a beginner?"

Slade nodded. "Yeah. She also only summoned Atronachs. She still hasn't gone into the darker aspects from what her aura showed though she did use dark magic."

Strange rubbed his chin thought. "Probably just started then. Her description doesn't sound familiar but I'll look into it."

Slade sighed and put his hands on his shins where he felt something in his pocket. He pulled it out and it turned out to be the gift he had for Jean. Realizing this was the perfect chance to give it to her, he sent a look toward his dad.

Catching the meaning behind his look, Strange cleared his throat. "Wanda, can you come over here for a second? I want you to explain your point of view of Slade's fight to see if perhaps Slade missed something."

Wanda walked over to where Strange was hovering on the other side of the torch while Wong and Agatha took a hint and wandered off, leaving Slade alone with Jean.

Slade cleared his throat, stopping Jean's fussing and catching her attention. "Well, Jean. I made this for you as a sort of farewell gift. I hope you like it."

Jean took the slightly battered box, no doubt due to the fight, with slightly shaky hands. Taking a deep breath, Jean opened it.

It was beautiful. That was Jean's first thought. It was a pendant, much like Slade's and Wanda's. However, this one was a phoenix and it was clearly enchanted and inscribed with runes. The phoenix shimmered a red-orange color similar to flames or Jean's hair in the light. Jean swore that it almost moved when the light hit it a certain way.

Jean took out the pendant and idly noticed that it was completely unblemished despite the box being so battered and partially frozen from the fight. She looked at Slade with misty eyes. "Help me put it on?"

Slade nodded and helped Jean brushed her hair to the side when she turned her back toward him. With sure hands, he tied the pendant on her. He laid a kiss in her bare neck, causing her to shiver in desire before hugging her from behind.

Jean leaned into her boyfriend and closed her eyes with a small smile as Slade laid soft kisses along her neck. It took every bit of her concentration not to succumb to her desire and lose her virginity to him right then and there even with the others nearby. "Why did you pick a phoenix?"

Slade smiled slightly as he remembered why. "Because... a phoenix is fire and passion incarnate. It's majestic and beautiful while still being firm in what it believes. I relate the phoenix to us as well." Slade and Jean locked eyes, emotions more profound that their ages passing between them as Slade's voice dropped to a whisper. "Because like the phoenix, it may die for a time... but it's always reborn from the ashes and never truly dies. Just like my love for you."

Jean's eyes shimmered with tears and she impatiently wiped away a few that escaped before shaking her head and launching herself at Slade with a passionate kiss. They had never put to words what they felt, both because they thought they were too young to truly feel it and because of the shadow of Jean's departure. Now, however, Jean opened her mind to him and poured all her feelings of love and care though their link to tell him with her mind what she couldn't tell him in words.

That she loved him. That she would always love him.

Slade grunted in slight pain from the weight of Jean on his cracked rib but pushed it away to return the kiss. He opened his mind to Jean and let her feel both the love he felt for her as well as the deep soul-rending pain her departure would give him.

They made out furiously for a few minutes during which Jean had straddled him. They stopped when the need for air become life-threatening and just stayed there, their foreheads touching as they stared into each other's eyes.

"I love you," said Jean softly.

Slade gave her a sad smile. "I love you too."

They stayed like that for a while before Jean got off him when she explained she was gonna ask Dr. Strange if they could stay there for a while. Slade nodded and sat at the edge of the balcony, a safety rail between his legs.

He turned when he felt someone sit on his left. It was Wanda.

Suddenly, the full weight of what happened entered Slade's mind and he wrapped his left arm around Wanda's shoulders before drawing her into a half hug which she leaned into. "I'm sorry about your brother."

Wanda smiled and shook her head sadly. "He was always stubborn and never listened to me when I gave my ideas but this..." She just shook her head sadly and fell silent.

Slade couldn't help but feel it was partially his fault. If he had perhaps tried harder to find her brother, maybe things would be different. "It's my fault. I'm sorry. Maybe if I just tried to explain myself better..."

Wanda cut him off. "No. My brother... once he gets something into his head, it takes an avalanche to get it out. He's stubborn that way. No... he chose his path when he tried to kill you over a simple misunderstanding."

Slade frowned. "But he's your brother."

"And you are my..." Wanda bit her lip. "You're my closest male friend. You're just as special to me as Pietro is. No one could replace you in my heart."

Slade smiled softly and hugged her tighter. "You're special to me too, Wanda. You're my little scarlet witch."

Wanda scrunched up her face at the title. "Scarlet witch? What's that?"

Slade got a mischievous look on his face. "Among wizards, it's a witch that's too open about her desires and teases men with her looks. A scarlet woman!"

Wanda playfully slapped his chest before apologizing when it brought a yelp to his lips due to his broken rib. Wanda playfully pouted. "Just because I'm more open about my desires doesn't mean I'm a scarlet woman. I'm just very liberal."

Slade laughed at the faux offended look on her face. "Whatever you say beautiful." Slade suddenly remembered something and a frown came to his face.

Wanda noticed and cocked an eyebrow at him. "What's wrong?"

Slade made a disgusted look. "I just remembered that Pyro guy was hitting on you when we met. I should have knocked his teeth in for thinking he could be with you."

Despite the way it could be taken wrongly, Wanda's stomach fluttered at the slight possessiveness in his tone. "Really? Sure you weren't jealous?" Wanda swore she caught something cross his face when she said that but it was gone before she could identify it.

Slade shook his head. "No. It's just..." Slade turned to look Wanda in the eye. "You're too good for him. For any normal man. Someone like you... deserves someone as amazing and unique as you."

Wanda's stomach fluttered and she ducked her head shyly at his words. The worst thing is that she saw the sincerity in his eyes and knew he meant every word. Dammit! Did the guy know how his words affected women or was he really that oblivious?

Wanda looked up at him in time to see him staring at the setting sun like nothing had happened and deadpan look crossed her face.

'Yep. He really is that oblivious.'

Wanda smiled before a concerned look came to her face. She looked around to make sure no one could overhear before speaking.

"How do you feel? You know... after what happened with the mirror?" Slade had told her in confidentiality about what he had seen and about his subsequent breakdown. He hadn't even told Jean, too ashamed of his weakness. He only told Wanda because she told him about hers, as embarrassing as it was. Luckily, she hadn't told him she was married to him in the mirror but just "some guy she liked". He had tried to guess who she liked but gave up after he jokingly guessed Lance and she smacked him.

A frown crossed Slade's face and he looked down in thought. "You know... I always thought that I was over what they did to me... that I had grown past them."

Slade looked up at the sun with misty eyes. "But... that's the curse of my eidetic memory I guess. I can never forget. No matter what happens. I can never forget."

Wanda tried to say something but Slade continued. "But it doesn't matter. Because I have a new family now. Dad, Wong, Agatha, Raizo, Jean and you are my family now. Before, I subconsciously learned magic in order to make my parents regret giving me away. Now, however... I want to learn it for myself. Because I love magic. And because I want to help people."

Wanda's heart skipped a beat as she saw Slade turn to with a genuine smile. The sun hit his face at the perfect angle, making him look ethereal and royal. Wanda never loved Slade more than in that moment and it was only sheer force of will that kept her from jumping him right there and now.

Wanda shook it off as Jean approached them. For a moment she felt slightly guilty for still being in Slade's hug but when jean just smiled at her, it left. She was glad that Jean was so understanding and that she had met her. God only knew how messed up she might be if she had only her brother as a friend growing up.

Slade smiled softly at Jean as she sat to his right. He wrapped his right arm around her shoulders and drew her into a hug as well which she happily leaned into.

The three friends stayed there for a second, just basking in the warmth of the sun and their friendship. Then, Jean turned to Slade with a question.

"Dr. Strange said that my pendant was both enchanted and had runes inscribed into it. What do they do?"

"Well," started Slade. "The enchantment is the same as the one on mine and Wanda's. It connects us and we can contact each other telepathically no matter what the distance. It bends space and time through the Fate/Kaleidoscope rune so that it's like we're always right next to each other."

Slade fingered the phoenix of Jean's pendant. "The phoenix on the other hand. Other than the magic used to make it seem so life-like, is a sort of emergency beacon. You just channel your mutant powers directly into the phoenix while thinking that you're in danger and our will warm up to warn us. It'll also work as a beacon for us to find you even through the most advanced shields. All of our pendants work the same."

Slade took a breath before continuing. "The runes on the other hand form a sort of magical shield around you. The runes are inscribed onto the chain itself and it'll form a shield around you that can take anything short of nuclear attack just once. But then it'll run out of juice and have to recharge."

What Slade didn't know was these pendants were bond pendants. You see the pendant that Slade wears was his fathers before him, it was special because it creates other pendants, one for each bondmate. You know the saying 'Love at First Sight' Well Void-Walkers take this literately, on the night of when they see their bondmate, the pendant creates another in the symbol of their bondmate, i.e. Wanda's pentacle or Jean's phoenix.

Jean smiled softly and thanked him before giving him a kiss.

The three friends stayed like that, watching the suns set. Three misfits had gathered together and formed a powerful friendship.

One had been raised alone after being abandoned by his parents.

One had telepathically felt as her best friend died and had risked being lost in a world of thoughts.

The last had lost the only parents she knew only to soon after lose track of her brother before almost being raped.

Three hard pasts that had left their own types of wounds on their souls that had managed to be healed between the three.

Hopefully, the bond they had formed would last for years to come.

* * *

><p><strong>Midnight, Sanctum Sanctorum, Slade's room<strong>

Slade's eyes opened from his dozing when he felt the wards to his room alert him to Jean's entrance. Not thinking she would visit him tonight, he sat up only to be instantly aroused by what he saw.

Jean was always beautiful but tonight she seemed to glow ethereally in her light red bra and panties. They were simple but at the same time, looked perfect on her.

Jean bit her lip nervously but gathered her courage and walked toward Slade. She reached his bed and got on before straddling him. She hovered over him, giving him quite a show of her cleavage before kissing him deeply.

The kiss woke Slade from his stupor and he eagerly responded. The couple kissed for a while, steadily becoming more passionate. Tender kisses became soft caresses which became soft groping. Jean slowly took off Slade's nightshirt before taking off his pants as well, leaving him in only his boxers.

Jean broke the kiss before laying her forehead against Slade's. "Slade?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm ready."

Despite having no context, Slade instantly knew what she meant and looked at her with a look that was half-hopeful half-uncertain.

"Are you certain?" asked Slade softly.

Jean nodded with a soft smile. "Yes. I can't imagine losing it to anyone else and... I want something to remember our love." 'In case this is our last chance to express it.' thought Jean sadly.

Slade nodded in understanding. He activated the wards around his room to maximum so they wouldn't be interrupted.

* * *

><p><strong>Lemon start<strong>

**Skip if needed**

They collapsed on the soft mattress, now kissing passionately instead of the soft kisses of before, letting their lust take over and touching each other more passionately.

Slade flipped them so Jean was on the bottom and Jean wrapped her legs were tightly around his torso, allowing their bodies to grind together and build up their arousal. She could already feel an erection bulging from his pants and he could feel the wetness between her legs as their cores ground together.

Slade took off Jean's bra and his lust skyrocketed at the sight of her perfect breasts. The lust within him that screamed at him to claim her was drawn by her beauty as he grasped the fleshy orbs and eagerly kissed along her cleavage.

"Slade…" gasped out Jean, warm shots of pleasure shooting through her body.

Her moans fueled Slade's growing lust. He gently yet firmly squeezed her breasts and sucked on her erect nipples. Jean closed her eyes to absorb the sensations, which were making her wetter by the second. Slade sensed this and swiftly trailed his lips further down, moving onto her panties.

"Off…take them off!" she urged. Her lust having risen too high to go slowly at the moment.

Slade grinned as he let out a hungry grunt as he lowered her panties. Then Jean took the initiative, shooting up and kissing down his manly build while rubbing the bulge over his black boxers. He let out lustful grunts as he continued to fondle her breasts. It took a moment to work around his erection, but she managed to grab the edge of his boxers and pull them down. Slade did the rest, throwing away his boxers so he was completely naked.

Jean gasped at the sight of his fully erect cock. She had seen it many times before but tonight the sight seemed different. Before it meant oral sex or even a handjob while Slade pleased her with his tongue. Tonight, however, that thick piece of flesh would penetrate her most intimate place and it made her wet to imagine the pleasure it would bring her.

It was so hard and ready. Wet streaks of arousal were trailing down her inner thighs. All the lustful energy he projected was affecting her. She had thought their first time would be slow and gentle but having him now in her arms and between her legs, she couldn't slow down until she had him inside her.

"Mmm…you smell so good, Jean," he grunted as he pinned her to the bed and spread her legs, "I want to remember it forever." She smelled simply divine. Her smell a mix of the sweetest things yet with a tang of something thick hidden inside. It was uniquely Jean and he memorized her scent and this moment forever.

Slade then buried his face in her cunt, smelling and licking over her cunt. Jean cried out in a lustful gasp. He had done this many times but he was different now. He was so hungry for her. It was like he wanted to devour her whole. The new sensation increased her already sky-high arousal and she thanked the gods for his eagerness.

Slade kissed around her inner thighs, tasting her sweet nectar. He was intoxicated with her scent. He craved this woman's flesh and she craved his.

He trailed his lips to just above her navel before moving back down. Before he went back down to her pussy, he took in the sight before him completely She was lying under him, completely naked. She looked so beautiful. Every curve was so elegant and gracious. And he could tell she wanted him. The lips of her pussy were swollen with arousal. She was ready for him and he was ready for her.

"Damn you're so beautiful," said Slade, caressing her face with one hand and fondling her inner thighs with the other.

"Slade…" she said in a deep tone, "I want it so bad."

"So do I."

Slade reached into the nearby dresser and pulled out a box of condoms he had bought just for this occasion. However, Jean stopped him with a blush on her face.

"Wrong time of the month for me, Slade, so don't worry. Plus, I want to savor every experience of our first time. Agatha assured me I won't get pregnant tonight no matter how many times we do it."

Slade's smile turned lustful and he eagerly kissed her again.

Propping himself on his forearms, Slade hovered over Jean's naked body and hungrily kissed her lips. Jean wrapped her legs around his torso and held onto his neck, purring at the feeling of his body rubbing against her naked skin. He was poised to enter her as his hard member rubbed against her wet entrance. The teenage magical powerhouse then dug his hands into the bed and thrust forward, pushing his hard penis into her wet vagina. Jean let out a sharp gasp of pain and delight as her body contorted to the feeling.

"Oh God!" she gasped, holding onto him tighter. They had talked about this moment before and she had told him that she wanted it to be quick. She didn't want him to slowly slide into her but to break through her hymen quickly so that the pain would pass that much more quickly.

"Mmm Jean! Oh Jean!" grunted Slade.

Her pussy was ecstasy. It was everything Slade ever dreamed it would be. She was so hot and tight. Slade had to use all his willpower not to lose control and just fuck her with abandon.

Jean grit her eyes as the pain slowly passed. Now that he was inside, Slade was much gentler, laying soft kisses along her neck and whispering sweet nothings in her ear. With a sigh, the pain subsided and Jean nodded for him to continue.

Slade began working his cock inside her, thrusting forward and laterally working his body against hers. Jean gasped with each motion, tensing her legs and panting every time his cock slammed into her.

Slade made love to her with a steady rhythm. The bed rocked as lustful moans filled the room. With every thrust, Slade dug his hands, which were on either side of her face, into the bed even harder and slammed his pelvis against hers. His hard cock thrashed inside her pussy, hitting pleasure nerves everywhere and sending waves of hot sensations up through her body. It was a moment of pure lust and love, two emotions that were usually at odds mixing together easily in an erotic dance that was as old as the human race. Jean and Slade were finally giving into their desire and love and demonstrating it in the best way possible.

"Uh-uh-uh-uh-Slade! Oh Slade! So good! It feels so good!" cried out Jean. The pain had passed completely and all that was left was pleasure. She stated to participate in the act instead of just lying there, lifting her hips to supplement each one of his thrusts.

"Uh! Uh! Uh! Jean!" grunted Slade with untampered lust.

He pounded into her harder, the sound of his skin slapping against hers filling the room with a lustful aura. Jean was nearing an orgasm and Slade couldn't hold back much longer. He hungrily kissed her lips while she raked her nails along his back, feeling his sweat mix with hers. Slade stepped up the pace of his thrusting, pushing them both to the brink. He closed his eyes and grunted hard as the feeling drew near. Jean felt it too, tightening her vice grip with her legs and driving him as deep as he would go. And with one final push, Slade let out a lustful yell.

"AHHHHHH!"

"OH MY GOD!" cried Jean as her climax hit as well.

It was an intense feeling. Slade thrust into her as hard as he could, penetrating all the way to her cervix as his cock exploded in a burst of cum. The warm feeling of his hot semen inside her pussy was what sent her over the edge as well. Her inner muscles tightened around his member, sending a powerful release up through her being and filling her mind and body with mind-numbing pleasure.

When the feeling subsided, Slade and Jean were short of breath. Slade opened his eyes and gazed into the content face of the beautiful girl, no, woman before him. It was everything he had hoped for. It was strong, passionate, loving and powerful. And as he looked into her lustful green eyes, he kissed her hungrily. His insatiable desires for her were far from satisfied.

"Mmm…that was wonderful, Slade," she said.

"Who said I was done?" he said lustfully.

"Who said I wanted you to stop?" retorted Jean cheekily.

Jean grinned as she unleashed her wild side, pulling Slade into another fervent kiss and running her hands over his manly muscles. If there was a chance she would never be with Slade like this again, then she was going to let loose and be adventurous one last time. And Slade was more than happy to accommodate her.

They made out on the bed with Slade rolling off to her side while their lips were still locked. He grasped her fleshy breasts, kneading them to her delight as they built up their energy for another round. Long hours working on his sexual stamina made it so they didn't have to wait long. His cock stiffened up for her with little effort and he was soon groping her naked flesh with renewed sexual hunger.

Jean got up and led him to sit at the edge of the bed before getting to her knees between his legs. She then lowered her head onto his prick, taking his full length into her mouth. She licked all around and sucked hard, then she started placing tender soft kisses all over his cock while still working her hand on it. She moved down lower and started to lick his balls. She took them into her mouth and started to suck on them as well.

Slade moaned loudly, feeling an orgasm quickly approaching.

Jean sensed it, too, almost instinctually. She let Slade's balls drop from her mouth, covered in her saliva, and replaced it with just the head of his cock. She moved her tongue around the rim of his cock head, slowly and sensuously. Months of practice giving her the experience needed to make him blow his load.

Finally, Slade couldn't take anymore and a large glob of cum shot up into Jean's mouth. Thankfully, she had expected it and swallowed it before continuing to drink down the rest of his cum. Slade sat back up and pulled Jean's face off of his cock and stood her up. He led her to lie back on the bed with her legs off the bed and dropped to his knees to eye level with her short red pubic hair and moist slit. He moved one hand between her legs and found her clit, rubbing it and getting a moan from his lover. He lowered his head and ran his tongue up her slit.

Jean moaned louder, feeling Slade's tongue on her cunt. She felt him use his fingers to spread her open and push his tongue into her. He tasted her juices and pushed in further, getting as much of his tongue inside her as possible and swirling it around. Jean was going nuts, screaming and moaning and thrashing her hands. She moved one hand down to the back of Slade's head and pushed his face against her cunt and thrust her hips forward, feeling his tongue moving in her. Her orgasm flooded out of her, splashing all over Slade's face and into his mouth. He drank her up.

Slade, seeing this, decided to position himself at her entrance. She flipped them so now Slade was on the bottom and she would be in control this time. She reached down and gripped his hard cock, though a bit softer than before. To get it harder, she rubbed the head against her lips, teasing herself more than him. As she felt the familiar steel solidness of his tool, she lowered her pussy onto him.

She was tight like a vice, and warm as a summer's noon. His hands instinctively went up to her hips to rest comfortably. He knew she was in control, so he would not try to maneuver her, and he would be thankful he didn't either, as he soon found that Jean started to move her hips in ways that a normal woman ever could. Years of practicing her flexibility in Raiza's training session coming to good use.

Her hips swayed in an instinctual dance all her own, her ass rubbing against his thighs as she did. A hand braced against his stomach as she moaned loudly, using the maneuver to have his cock hit all the places he couldn't by his own direction. Her other hand reached down and grabbed one of his own from her hips and planted it on her large breast. She moaned louder as his strong palm pressed against her nipple, covering it like a shield.

With his hand invited to her breast again, his other followed up to cup the other one as well so both would receive equal attention. Their size was large for a girl her age and he couldn't manage to grip it all, and as he squeezed, her tit flesh flowed between his fingers. He tweaked and pulled on her nipples to her joy, getting moans and groans in a throaty manner as she now began to bounce as well as ground onto him. Whenever his hips would buck up, she would force them back down with her hand just above his pelvic region and her powerful hips. He had his chance to dominate but now it was her turn.

She writhed and ground and bounced upon him, her breasts kept in hold by him. One hand planted on him and the other now reached to rub her cute little clit. Her arms pressed close together forced her tits together as well, creating a powerful cleavage to which Slade found himself staring at intently. She started to wail with her moans and shudders, but the house would not hear it thanks to the wards in his room which only led her to get louder and louder. Soon her stomach felt that tightening and she pulled herself all the way up until just the head was in her, and then shot herself back down hard and fast; thankfully she managed to go straight down and not bend Slade's cock. That would have killed the mood very quickly.

The moment she hit his hips she came, her pussy forcing around him like a vice. After coating his cock in her honey, she moved to let him slip out, still hard, and crawled over him. Her breasts hit against the headboard and her pussy was directly above his face as she silently told him what she wanted. Jean's lust had completely overtaken her and she now simply wanted to do everything and anything. Well... maybe not anything. She didn't feel comfortable with anal just yet but everything short of that she was willing to try.

Slade stuck out his tongue and was now teasing her with his mouth and tongue movements, though she was enjoying it all the same. He reached up and her breasts were firmly cupped and massaged as he focused on his work, finding himself wanting to desperately please her to the best of his abilities. His tongue moved slowly and gradually got more aggressive and penetrating, delving into her depths and making sure to leave no fold untouched.

Gripping the headboard, Jean rode his face with wild desire. She arched her back to fill his hands even more with her luscious chest. Purring and screaming all at his last breath she came. Unknown to them both, she started to glow slightly red as unconsciously channeled the Phoenix to give her more stamina.

Jean came with a lustful yell and filled Slade's face with her juices once more, something Slade was more than happy about.

Glowing with praise of his good work as Jean climbed off him, Slade's face was drenched with sweat and her sweet juices. She lovingly licked his face clean, tasting herself for the first time and finding it to her liking. She briefly wondered if all women tasted the same before she shook the thought away.

"I hope you're not done." said Jean, as she looked at him with love in her eyes. One final time for the road.

Slade stood up between her thighs and lifted her legs, spreading them in a deliberate manner, until her center was exposed to him once again. Slade continued to stare at her pussy lustfully as he lowered himself to his knees on the bed, causing what was left of the sheets on the bed to fall listlessly to the floor. His cock was hard, pointing straight towards the ceiling.

Jean's eyes widened in surprise that he was still hard and ready despite all the times he had cum. She was so caught up in the moment that she missed the slight purple aura he was emitting. "Whoa... most girls would love to have a guy like you."

Slade grasped her legs and thrust his manhood inside of her. He began to pound with wanton abandon. Gone was the gentle lover.

Jean began to thrust back with an equal and eager energy. She cooed as their hips met. He went faster and faster, driving her back to the recesses of her thoughts, back to that mind bending bliss she was trapped within moments before the assault on her center, no, her pussy. He wasn't making love to her, he was fucking her. He was claiming her. Marking her as his and only his and Jean loved every second of it.

Like before, Slade let his instincts take over. Seething with lust, he tightly gripped her butt and slammed his cock deeper into her pussy. Jean bucked her hips, moaning as he thrust into her and absorbing the hot sensations that followed. It wasn't long before he was pounding away at her at a fervent pace. Their bodies rocked along with the bed as Slade slammed his pelvis against her, loving every second of the hot tightness around his cock. Jean's skin glistened with sweat while Slade was already perspiring profusely. Her breasts swayed each time her body jerked to the fervent rhythm. Hungry for her naked flesh, Slade reached forth and grabbed them while he fucked her.

"Jea-Je-Jea-JEAN!" grunted Slade.

"SLADE!" moaned the young redhead, absorbing every burst of pleasure that surged through her body.

From here they fucked in other positions. Slade maneuvered them onto their sides, his cock still in her while he thrust into her from behind while kneading her breasts. Then he returned to an upright position, and hitched one of her legs over his shoulder and fucked her at that angle. From here Slade turned Jean around so that she was on her back, her legs elevated over his shoulders while he pounded away. Jean wasn't idle and got into the spirit, shooting up from her position and bouncing her body up and down his cock while he gripped her butt and guided her along.

Despite the ferocity, there was a deep love as well as lust in their actions. Since this was their first and maybe only time, they both sought to drag it out. All the feelings Jean held back came gushing out in a burst of love and euphoria. She wanted this so bad and it felt good to finally embrace it.

For Slade it was like a dream. Having sex with Jean was everything he thought it would be and then some. With every passing moment of bliss, he fell further into his lustful daze. It getting hard to distinguish dreams from reality, but he didn't care as he held out for this one moment of bliss.

Unknown to both teenagers, the auras surrounding them, red for Jean and purple for Slade, had been growing as time passed. The aura around Jean took on the form of a phoenix while Slade's gave him the countenance of a Void-Walker's true form. **(1)** Rather than battle for supremacy, both auras melded together and meshed as if they were made for each other. Normally, red and green would join to create brown. However, when their auras joined it created a rich golden color.

The golden aura suffused them both and made them look more like gods than mortal as they bonded on a deep spiritual level that was unbreakable.

This went unnoticed by both participants as they simply continued in their actions. After plenty of hot lovemaking, Slade and Jean were in one final push for ecstasy. Slade was flat on his back and Jean was straddling his hips. The naked redhead passionately rode his cock while running her hands over his sweaty chest, slamming down onto his cock and pushing themselves to their limits. Her breasts bounced to the intense rhythm and Slade once again reached up and touched them as he felt his climax draw near. Sweat poured from their bodies as passion and lust flowed freely.

"UH-UH-UH-UH-SLADE! UH-UH-I'M CUMMING! I'M CUMMING!" cried Jean, riding him harder as her orgasm drew near.

Slade remained caught up in his lustful daze, unable to form any coherent words except one.

"UH! UH! JEAN!" he howled, thrusting up into her with all his might.

This was it. This would be the final climax between Jean Grey and Harrison Strange for now. They both knew it. And as Jean rocked her body harder and Slade thrust with greater intent, their golden auras exploded in a blaze of gold that shook everything in the room. Luckily, Slade's wards kept anyone in the house from feeling anything and they were left undisturbed.

Jean felt her pussy throb around his cock and Slade's cock twitched inside her, poised for another climax. Suddenly, just as they reached their peak, something happened within the depths of Slade's mind and a rush of memories and images passed through his mind. Every second spent with Jean, every touch and caress and moment of friendship and love and he knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that he would love this woman till the day he died.

Jean was going through a similar experience as she relieved every moment she'd spent with Slade and every step of their developing relationship, ending with right now. She knew now that no matter how much she tried she would never love another man more or even equal to how much she loved Slade.

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHH SLADE!" cried Jean as she arched her body to the wondrous pleasures of an orgasm.

"UHHHHHH JEAN!" grunted Slade as he filled her with one last round of his cum.

Slade sank into the bed in a daze, rubbing Jean's head and moaning. Jean collapsed on top of him, still awash with ecstasy.

**Lemon end**

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><p>Jean snuggled into Slade's neck as the afterglow filled her. It had been everything she had hoped for and so much more. She had let herself loose and it had been everything her innocent and naughty dreams wanted combined. He had been fierce yet gentle, making sure he didn't hurt her even as he thrust into her with unrestrained passion. She had never been surer that she loved him.<p>

Slade stopped caressing Jean's hair and looked down at her. "I love you, my fiery goddess."

Jean looked up at him with misty eyes. "And I love you."

They kissed one more time before getting comfortable and starting to fall asleep. Slade reached out with his magic and doused the lights, leaving them alone yet together in darkness.

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><p><strong>AN: There it is the Young Arc done. Please Review.**

**If you are wondering the true form looks like it looks like Voidwalker minion from WoW**

**Here is a current poll update. Please vote for your favorite.**

**1) Janet van Dyne/Wasp 5**

**2) Gamora 4**

**3) Dani Moonstar 2**

**4) Karima Shapandar/Omega Sentinel 1**

**5) Illyana Rasputin/Magik 1**

**6) Barbara Morse/Mockingbird 0**

**7) Ava Ayala/White Tiger 0**


	11. Chapter 10: The Beginning of a New Life

Chapter 10: The Beginning of a New Life

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. All other concepts and ideas from other books or stories belong to their respective authors. No copyright infringement is intended.**

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><p><strong>June 7th; Sanctum Sanctorum, Greenwich Village<strong>

Slade mentally made sure he wasn't leaving anything as he stood beside his father in the living room. He made sure he had the dagger that Ulthane asked for him to return was hanging on his hip before relaxing. After confirming that he had everything for the fifth time, including at least 7 different changes of clothes, Slade started to fidget as he remembered the last two days.

Yesterday had been heartbreaking for Slade and Jean, the latter especially. It was the first time in years that they had been apart for longer than a few hours and Jean had slowly been reverting to her previous shy and quiet persona. While she had always been shy and quiet, it had been less pronounced in recent years thanks to her friendship with Slade (who was never afraid to speak his mind) and Wanda (who seemed to get a kick out of pranking and embarrassing people). They had brought her out of her shell and she had become more outgoing and eager to speak her mind (this was especially pronounced in the fact that she was willing to lose her virginity at 15 years old).

However, as noon approached she had started to regress despite Slade and Wanda's best efforts. Slade understood why to a certain extent. She was going to a new place with new people and she was afraid (despite the fact that they were all going to be mutants) that she wouldn't fit in or make any friends. Slade had always been there ever since they met and the lack of his presence bothered Jean.

Despite her shyness and fear, Jean had refused to back down from her decision once it was made and simply kissed Slade goodbye before giving Wanda a hug while telling them both to keep in touch. Prof. Xavier had come to pick her up personally and they left soon after.

Wanda had left later that very night due to Agatha wanting to get an early start on their summer training. Wanda had been shocked that they would leave so soon since Agatha hadn't given her a timetable or told her beforehand but had quickly packed her bags and left after giving Slade a tight hug goodbye and telling him to take care of himself. Their first destination would be Egypt and from there only Agatha knew.

Now it was Slade's turn. He had gotten all the ingredients for the spell to take him to Ulthane and was now standing in the living room alongside his father and Wong. They were there to make sure nothing went wrong during the spell-casting and in case Slade was forced to return if the portal didn't take him where he wanted to go.

Slade laid his left hand on Inanis in it sheath on his hip so as to reassure himself it was still there. It was the first time he was using it so openly without Invisible Air hiding it. It was also the first time he wore the sheath and he wished he had before. He had forgotten that Ulthane had told him that the sheath had abilities of its own and now he was untrained in its use. He hoped to fix that under Ulthane's tutelage.

Dr. Strange turned to him with a serious look in his eyes. "Well, son. It's time to go. We'll stay here for a while in case you activate your portal to return. There's no shame if you fail so don't hesitate to activate it."

Slade nodded and took a deep breath. He drew Inanis from its sheath and held it in both hands with the blade pointing directly in front and away of him. Channeling magic through his body and through Inanis, Slade started to chant in an ancient language unknown to those that don't practice magic.

At the crescendo of the final line of the incantation, Inanis glowed a brilliant violet and a violet beam left it. The beam hit the wall and a purple portal was formed, one just big enough for one person to pass through.

Seeing that the spell seemed to be a success, Dr. Strange clapped a hand on Slade's shoulder. "Well done, Slade. Well, off you go then. Be careful and listen to Ulthane's teachings. From what Agamotto has told me, Ulthane is older than even him which I thought was impossible but there you go."

Slade nodded his head in understanding before waving goodbye to Wong and stepping through the portal.

Slade exited the portal to the familiar landscape of Ulthane's island dimension. The mountain was the same as always and the sea of stars still made the place look like it was stuck in perpetual midnight. Slade did a mental happy dance at his success before walking towards Ulthane's cave.

He noticed that nothing seemed to have changed as he walked forward. The sea of stars looked the same, the mountain was still belching smoke from the active volcano and the cave still released sounds of Ulthane working in the furnace. Slade was happy to see that he was right and Ulthane's boat had returned on its own, once again stuck in the sand. For some reason, it gave Slade a measure of peace to know that despite all that had happened lately, this place was still the same.

Slade walked into Ulthane's cave and found the giant in question smithing something on the anvil. Slade thought it was a shield due to its shape but he could be wrong.

Slade was about to announce his presence when Ulthane interrupted him. "Be right with ya, boy. Let me finish this and I'll be right with ya."

Slade was confused at how he knew he was there and it must have been easy to sense because Ulthane chuckled. "I sensed yer portal when you arrived. You got to work on that, boy. It wasted too much energy to form but I'm sure you know that."

Slade frowned and retorted. "Well, I had to put a lot of energy into it. I had to use Inanis as a compass to find your dimension once I figured out that it was inside the trunk of Yggdrasil."

Ulthane stopped his hammering of the shield and looked up at Slade with a bemused look. "Why didn't you just study space/time portal spells and cast a spell to lead you to me? Since you knew my name, all you had to do was set the portal to open at my location. Since I don't ever leave my dimension, you would have appeared here."

Slade stayed silent as he processed that information before summarizing it in one word. "Goddammit!"

Ulthane laughed deeply at Slade's angry face and wiped a tear of laughter from his eye. "Let me guess. It took you months to figure out a much more complicated way to reach me. Kids nowadays. That will be the first and most important lesson you will learn under me. The basics are taught first because they work. Magic-users nowadays needlessly complicate things that are quite simple in reality. There's a reason the most powerful and wisest sorcerers still use mystic bolts despite them being very basic. Do you know why that is?"

Slade thought hard on the question before tentatively answering. "I always thought it was because they're fast and easy to cast but the other day I fought this woman who managed to somehow make hers home in on me without her guidance. Then it's because they're versatile?"

Ulthane nodded. "Exactly. The basic spells are always the most versatile and easy to manipulate in terms of their properties. For example, the basic Protego that's used by wizards everywhere is still used by even the most powerful of them. This is because the shield is flexible. They can protect against most if not all spells from most factions, except for the master-level spells and even from physical attacks as well. Also, with no change in wand movement or incantation, one could manipulate the shield to cover more than one person or even cover yer entire body from all sides. And if faced with more powerful spells, ye can simply channel more magic into the shield to stand up to them without having to add more to the incantation. On the other hand, the Contego spell is limited to only physical attacks and is much harder to manipulate once it has already been cast despite it being a higher tier spell. Understand?"

Slade nodded his understanding and Ulthane continued. "The same applies to runes. The runes of the First Language are the most powerful for various reasons which I will go into later. However, they are also extremely flexible. For example, the Fate/Kaleidoscope rune rules over everything that has to do with Space/Time. This includes but is not limited to basic movement, chronokinesis, dimensional movement, and reality manipulation. Everything that has to do with Space/Time and different dimensions is under the rule of Fate/Kaleidoscope."

Slade frowned and activated the seal holding Yamato. Once free, Slade drew it from its scabbard and showed Ulthane the etching of Fate/Kaleidoscope on the blade. "Well, I carved it onto this blade. I figured out a new power using it soon afterward and guessed it was due to the Fate/Kaleidoscope rune carved into it."

Ulthane took Yamato and studied the rune carving for a minute before giving it back to Slade. "Well, ain't that a surprise. Well, let's see this new power then."

Slade bit his lip in trepidation as he followed Ulthane out of the cave. "The ability is... dangerous. It's a killing technique and impossible to dodge once used. Believe me, I've practiced with it and I know of no way to dodge it."

Ulthane just rolled his eyes and pulled out his hammer from its strap on his back. "I'm made of sterner stuff than ye think. Now get over here and use that power of yers."

Slade hesitantly nodded and held Yamato in both hands in front of him. Ulthane stood in a loose stance 10 feet in front of him and was holding his hammer protectively in front of him. Slade sighed and put his game face on before dashing toward Ulthane.

Just as he was three feet from Ulthane and Ulthane looked like he was going to swing his hammer, Slade incanted. "Tsubame Gaeshi!"

Instantly, three concurrent arching blades of magical energy closed in on Ulthane from all sides, creating a prison and allowing him no chance for defense or evasion. Ulthane was lucky because he had activated a rune on his back which made him intangible just before Slade activated his technique. This made it so the attacks passed through him without damaging him. However, Ulthane noticed that it took a lot of energy to stay intangible as the blades passed through him and guessed that with practice, Slade could make it so not even going intangible would work.

Ulthane looked at the damage the technique did and whistled in appreciation. "Not bad, kid. Not bad at all. Let me think for a second."

Ulthane studied the ditches left in the ground from Slade's attacks as well as used his own memory to come to a conclusion as to how the attack worked. The first strike comes at the opponent with overwhelming speed from the user's own blade, creating a circular arc to surround them. This wasn't much trouble on its own, especially with the length of the blade, but the slightly slower second vertical strike meant to block off escape from above, and the third horizontal strike to keep the opponent from escaping to the side completely overwhelm most opponents. The speed of the slashes also border on godly and make it impossible to dodge even if they had an escape route.

Ulthane nodded to himself and turned to Slade. "Well, boy. Do yer know how this attack works?"

Slade frowned and made a so and so gesture. "More or less. It creates three consecutive slashes from three different angles making it impossible for my opponent to escape. The speed of the slashes would've made it impossible to dodge for most people even if there was an escape route available."

Ulthane nodded slightly. "That's true. However, it's more than that. Ye see, yer blade uses the Fate/Kaleidoscope rune to create, for a few seconds, three different yet similar pocket universes. The main one is the one in which you attack me from the front to block escape from the front or back due to the length of yer blade. The second is a parallel universe where you attacked me from above, cutting off that escape route. The third and final universe is one where you attacked me from the side, cutting off those escape routes as well. All in all, it's a technique that uses the Multi-Dimensional Refraction Phenomenon of Fate/Kaleidoscope to create openings in temporal parallel universes in order to work. In short, yer blade has the ability to both create temporary parallel universes and use the Multi-Dimensional Refraction Phenomenon in order to harness them."

Slade blinked in surprise at the statement. "So... Yamato creates temporary universes and then makes openings in them so I can pull the slashes out of them?" At Ulthane's nod, Slade frowned slightly. "So, these universes are only temporary right? I'm not creating whole new universes every time I swing my sword, right?"

Ulthane laughed deeply at his question and shook his head. "No, boyo. Yer ain't creating new universes every time yer activate that ability. Creating a universe ain't that easy as it sounds which is why those universes are only temporary. In fact they only last a second at the most. However, if ye master the use of Fate/Kaleidoscope and Space/Time magics then ye will be able to do much more with that blade than just that. Remember, the Fate runes are flexible so yer can do much more with them than just that."

Slade nodded and put Yamato back in its sheath and sealing it away before speaking. "I'll do that then. I also came here to see if you could teach me how to wield Inanis. My sword teacher only knows how to wield katanas and the like. He has no idea beyond the basics of how to wield a typical Western sword like Inanis."

Ulthane shrugged and nodded. "Sure. I'll teach ye how to wield Inanis for the first half of the 'day' and runes in the second half. You'll stay till you master at least two of the Fate runes and know how to wield yer sword correctly."

Slade paused at his declaration. "Um... actually I kinda need to return by July at the latest."

Ulthane shrugged. "That's no problem. That just means we need you to master the Fate/Kaleidoscope rune. My dimension exists outside of Time. Basically, you can return at any point in time that you want. We can be here for what feels like years and you can return to your dimension only a day after you left if you want. When yer master Fate/Kaleidoscope, you'll be able to manipulate Space/Time to appear in any place at any time as long as yer don't try to change the past. That's a bad idea."

Slade nodded his understanding. "So when are we going to start?"

Ulthane stretched out his hand to Slade. "First, give me my wee dagger. I've been itching to get it back ever since that bitch Pandora left with it."

Slade took out the dagger and was about to give it to Ulthane when something Ulthane said registered in his head and his eyes narrowed at him. "Left with it? I thought you said she stole it."

Ulthane's face turned blank. "Never said that, did I? Just said she had it and I wanted it back."

Slade studied Ulthane for a second before his eyes widened in realization before narrowing in anger. "You made it for her. She didn't steal it at all! You made it for her knowing exactly what she wanted it for!"

Ulthane's hand dropped and he refused to meet Slade's eye. "Aye that I did."

Slade almost snarled at him. "Why?! You knew she would use it on Wanda yet you made it for her anyway! What did she offer you in return for it, huh Ulthane?!"

Ulthane smashed his hammer into the ground in anger causing the entire island dimension to shake. "None of yer business, boy! It doesn't concern ya!"

Slade just glared at him. "This dagger stabbed my best friend! Of course it concerns me! Or don't you care that the dagger you created was used to stab a 14 year old, you overgrown mountain troll!?"

Ulthane snarled at him. "Of course I care! But how was I gonna know she was still a child?! By all rights she should be in her 30s by now!"

Slade became confused at his statement. "What do you mean she should be in her 30s?"

Ulthane took a deep breath to calm himself though he still looked angry. "Wanda Maximoff was born over thirty years ago the same day Chthon almost escaped from his dimension and entered our own. It was Pandora who originally arranged for Chthon to escape his dimension. In return, Chthon would help her free Lilith from her prison. However, Chthon was banished back to his dimension before he could fully form and it failed. However, before he left he 'blessed' Wanda with the ability to wield chaos magic. This was for two reasons; to honor his deal with Pandora for a way to free Lilith and to someday take control of Wanda's body for himself."

Slade understood all that but was still confused by one thing. "But how can Wanda have been born so long ago when she's my age?"

Ulthane shrugged. "Heck if I know. I just know that she was born all those years ago. This I know for sure. That's why I agreed to make Pandora the dagger. I thought Wanda would be old enough and experienced enough in her powers to defend herself."

Slade grudgingly accepted that. He still didn't like that Ulthane had knowingly put someone else in danger but he could understand he didn't know Wanda was basically defenseless. Slade looked up at Ulthane with serious eyes. "What did Pandora offer you for the dagger that made you so willing to risk another's life?"

Ulthane's eyes darkened and his grip on his hammer tightened. "Never you mind. Just know that the bitch didn't deliver and the promised price was worth more to me than anything else in existence. Now if you're done interrogating me, give me my dagger so I destroy it for good."

Slade looked at Ulthane intently before nodding and giving him the dagger. Ulthane grabbed the dagger, placed it on top of a nearby boulder and smashed his hammer down on it with all his strength.

The entire dimension shook from the force of his blow and the dagger was destroyed completely from the strength of the blow. Not even shards remained.

Ulthane gave a satisfied grunt at the sight of the destroyed dagger and turned back to Slade. "There, it's done. Happy now?"

Slade nodded. "Very. Now, when are we going to get started?"

Ulthane smiled evilly and swung his hammer at Slade, who quickly blocked with Inanis, sheath and all, only to get his shoulder smashed and then get thrown like a rag doll due to the strength behind the blow. "Right now!" Under his breath, he muttered angrily. "Overgrown mountain troll, eh? We'll just see who's the stupid one now."

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><p>Jean walked through the halls of the Xavier Institute toward the kitchen in order to grab something to eat after the long day she'd been through.<p>

It had been a few days since she left the Sanctum Sanctorum and while she understood it was necessary, she still wished Slade was around. She could hardly wait the almost two months till his birthday when she'd see him again. Maybe she'd get visit him a few days early and spend some alone time with him. That is, if he'd returned from his training by then.

Things had been both different and similar to how she lived with Slade. While there were more people than she was used to, everyone was more or less nice to each other. This was probably due to the fact that they understood that they were basically the same, being mutants and all. Xavier had given them all a speech on what he hoped for the future which was a prosperous relationship between normal humans and mutants. He then went on to introduce them to each other.

First was Scott Summers also known as Cyclops. He was a fairly good-looking boy Jean's age with brown hair and that had the mutant ability to project a powerful beam of concussive, ruby-colored force from his eyes. They had all given a small demonstration of their powers and Jean had to admit that Scott's were impressive. She doubted she could put up a telekinetic shield strong enough to stand up to a full powered blast unless she was given time. Caught off guard, he'd probably blast her to bits.

In terms of personality, Jean could only really summarize it in one word: emo. Jean tried to be positive and say that he was a born leader and has amazing spatial awareness. He was quick to help them improve themselves and in battle he shone. He was also kind and compassionate much like Slade and always willing to help others.

However, outside of battle he seemed to have a perpetual rain cloud over his head and seemed to project an aura that screamed "Pity me!" due to his inability to look at people with his own eyes. He acted like he was cursed or something and that the world was out to get him. After growing up with Slade's positive outlook on life even after what happened to him as well as Wanda's antics, he seriously depressed Jean. It didn't help that it was obvious he had a crush on her. Before she might not have noticed but after years of chasing after Slade who was much harder to read in terms of his personal feelings, Scott might as well have confessed his feelings the moment he laid eyes on her.

To be truthful, it kind of put Jean off. She was still in love with Slade and despite her words to Slade before, she had every intention of getting back with him someday. She loved Slade deeply and if he was with someone else at the time... well, a little friendly competition never hurt anyone and cheating was a natural part of any game. Like Aunt Agatha always said: it's only cheating if you get caught.

The second person on the team was Robert "Bobby" Drake or as he preferred to be called Iceman. Bobby had brown hair and brown eyes and had joined the Institute when he was chased out of his home town by a mob who thought he was a monster. Jean couldn't but laugh when he used his powers because he looked a snowman when he did. How those people could think he was a monster when he look so funny was beyond her.

Bobby was the joker of the group and was carefree and easy-going. He hardly ever got angry and just laughed along with Jean when she giggled at his snowman appearance. He simply said that it was proof that the ladies loved it and smiled along with her. His powers were technically called Cryokinesis which was basically the ability to create and manipulate ice. Jean had seen Dr. Strange and Slade do something similar but Bobby had a level of control she doubted Slade would ever have unless he spent years mastering his ice magic.

The third person on the team was Warren Worthington also known as Angel. He was the son of wealthy Warren Worthington Jr and was the classic blond haired, blue eyed rich kid who was lucky enough to grow a pair of wings that made him look like an angel. Luckily, he was modest about it and never thought himself above any of them. He already had a small stint as a hero as the 'Avenging Angel' but Prof. Xavier recruited him not long after to join the team. He also had a small crush on Jean but luckily, his seemed to be much more toned down than Scott's.

As she said before, Warren's mutant power involved his growing wings. Warren possesses the superhuman ability to fly by using his natural wings, which according to Xavier's measurements, span sixteen feet from wingtip to wingtip. They were fully feathered like a bird's and similar to a bird's the wings have a very flexible skeletal structure. This allowed him to hide them by pressing them to the back of his torso and legs with only the slightest bulge visible under his clothing. However, his mutation was much more than just his wings. Warren's entire anatomy is naturally adapted to flying. His bones are hollow like a bird's, making him weigh far less than usual for a teenage boy of his build. His entire body is virtually devoid of fat and he possesses greater proportionate muscle mass than an ordinary human does. His eyes were also specially adapted to withstand high-speed winds which would hurt the average human eye. Prof. Xavier hypothesized that he probably possesses a special membrane in his respiratory system that enables him to extract oxygen from the air at high velocities or altitudes. It was just a theory until he could get the correct equipment to scan Warren's body.

Warren was a nice person overall and Jean got along with him easily enough. However, he and Bobby were quite rebellious and had a tendency to just leave and either fly or go skateboarding when they were supposed to be in class learning from Prof. Xavier. It fondly reminded Jean of times she would be convinced by both Slade and Wanda to skip class in order to goof off somewhere. Her friends had totally corrupted her.

The fourth person on the team was someone she had found herself having a lot of intellectual and philosophical debates with; Henry "Hank" McCoy also known as Beast. Hank was a tall man with brown hair and blue eyes and was very smart. Even smarter than Jean herself. Talking to him reminded Jean of talking to Slade sometimes with the way she felt completely out of her depth with some of the concepts he talked about. Luckily, Hank was a lot like Slade in that he was modest about it and nice enough to explain them to her. Due to this, Hank had quickly become her best friend of the group and the two spent a lot of time bouncing ideas off each other. It helped that Hank simply thought of her as a friend and she didn't have to worry about his advances like she would with Scott and Warren.

Both had been extremely put out when she said she wasn't interested in them and still in love with her ex. Jean just hoped Slade never met them in a fight. She was sure he could wipe the floor with them but they would become impossible to stand for weeks afterwards. 'Boys,' thought Jean while rolling her eyes.

Hank was extremely philosophical and often quoted Shakespearean works. Jean didn't mind and Hank was happy to enter a philosophical debate with someone that didn't end with fists. In his old school, that was often the norm when he started debating with someone.

Hank's powers revolved around enhanced abilities such as strength, reflexes and agility. Prof. Xavier also postulated that his intelligence was also caused by his mutation as well as his unusually big hands and feet. While it may not seem like much, Jean had seen the way Hank moved in the Danger Room and it reminded her of the way Slade moved when he reinforced his body. Fast and deadly. It gave Jean even more inspiration to master her telekinesis to a level where she could enhance her body with it to move even faster and do similar feats.

The fifth person on the team was Ororo Munroe also known as Storm. She was a dark-skinned woman about a few years older than her with seemingly natural white hair and strange pearly eyes. She was brought in to teach History and Languages (One per year) and often was reading or caring for her plants in her free time. She was very serious to point of being emotionless and was good friends with both Prof. Xavier and Hank since she joined the Institute a few months ago. She had joined Xavier when Magneto offered for him to join his group only to be rejected by Ororo himself. Magneto then tried to hold her hostage to force her to join his group but Prof. Xavier and Scott appeared to help and rescued them. In the end, Ororo agreed to join the Institute.

Ororo's powers involved weather manipulation. She could can sense, create, shape and manipulate weather, i.e. the meteorological patterns, creating rain, wind, and hail, lightning, snow, sleet, fog and temperature changes. This included the ability to generate wind currents in order to fly. The extent of her control isn't that well known since she'd only been here a few months but Prof. Xavier had theories that she was emotionally connected to the earth, therefore she had to keep her emotions in check lest she bring the wrath of mother nature upon them. In time, her powers would grow just like Jean's did under Agatha.

The last but certainly not least member of the team besides Jean was Dawn Garnet also known as Solaris. Jean had been ecstatic that she wasn't the only girl other than Storm on the team and she wouldn't be surrounded by testosterone all the time. Dawn was a nice girl Jean's age with blond hair and amethyst-colored eyes. She was a bubbly girl that made Jean think of those plastic Barbie-like girls in the movies. However, Dawn was actually pretty nice and despite being a little too obsessed with fashion, knew when to get serious and buckle down. She had joined the Institute at the same time as Jean, arriving the day before Jean did. Apparently Prof. Xavier knew her mother and since her mother would be going away on a business trip for an undetermined length of time, she had left Dawn in his care.

Dawn's powers involved Photokinesis. Up till now, she had shown the ability to manipulate light to make solid constructs of whatever she imagined as well as throw beams of light strong enough to pulverize boulders at full power. And this was only the beginning of what she could with her powers once she started training in them. Jean couldn't help but wonder if she could turn her body to light much like Bobby could turn his body to ice. If she could someday, did that mean she would be able to move at the speed of light as well? That was an intriguing thought. Dawn also had a slight amount of telepathy, just enough to read someone's mind with effort as long as that person wasn't actively trying to block her attempts.

In the end, the group consisted of seven people including her. Prof. Xavier said that at any one time only four or five people would be sent on a mission. The people sent would be shuffled randomly so that everyone would get used to being on a team that was constantly changing. It would help them adapt to being in a different team with different abilities as well as how to defeat certain obstacles with the people available. It was a good idea but personally Jean thought Xavier had brought them in as back-up in case she didn't. Although that might just be her ego talking.

Jean walked into the dining room and smiled when she saw Hank and Dawn eating at a table. She entered the kitchen and served herself dinner before walking back into the dining room and sitting beside Dawn who was across from Hank. Jean couldn't help but let an amused smile cross her face as she listened to their conversation.

"But Hank!" whined Dawn. "You need me to help you pick out your clothing! I could totally dress you up so you look like a really smart James Bond or even an attractive Einstein. You just have to let me have creative freedom to dress you up as I like."

Hank just gave Dawn a deadpan look. "No. For the last time, no. I'm smart enough to know to never let a woman have that much freedom about how I look. If it was up to you, you'd probably put me in an Irish kilt or something."

Jean and Dawn looked at each other and gave Hank a pair of unnerving smiles as they seemed to be sizing him up. They broke down laughing at Hank's scandalized look causing Hank to grumpily bury his face in a book to hide his blushing face.

Dawn was the first to recover and couldn't help but tease Hank. "Aw, Hank! I'm sure you'd look great in a kilt. You can show off those muscular thighs of yours." She finished it off by waggling her eyebrows before breaking down laughing again.

Jean stopped giggling and smiled up at Hank who looked like he was trying to escape. "Okay, okay. We'll stop teasing you. Where is everyone else anyway?"

Hank seemed to be glad for the change of topic and a thoughtful frown crossed his face. "Well, Warren and Bobby left to a nearby park. Bobby said something about teaching Warren to skateboard even if it killed him. Ororo's visiting his parents for the weekend while Scott is where he always is in his free time. In the Danger Room training."

Jean rolled her eyes at the last statement. "Seriously, I know we need to master our powers but we can have free time doing stuff other than training."

Dawn looked at Jean in confusion. "Didn't Prof. Xavier say you had spent the last 5 years training with some specialist in telekinesis?"

Jean rolled her eyes and muttered. "Figures he'd say it like that." In a louder tone, she said. "Yes and no. I lived with a friend of mine whose father was an expert in telekinetic combat of a sort. He also brought in two other trainers called Agatha and Raiza who helped me in telepathy and physical combat respectively. However," Jean made sure to stress the word to get it across. "We always made time to just goof off and act our age. There were three of us there. Me, Wanda and Slade. We're all around the same age with Slade being a few months older but we were all in the same grade due to their intelligence. We practiced our powers, learned regular stuff like everyone else and still had time to goof off. Heck, I learned how to fly telekinetically thanks to our fooling around."

Hank's eyes widened at that. "You can fly too?"

As answer, Jean smiled and started to hover above the table, taking her plate of food with her. She ate a few mouthfuls in the air using only telekinesis to move the fork and knife before floating back down to their gobsmacked faces.

Dawn was the first to recover and gave Jean a slightly envious look. "That is so cool. I wish I could fly too."

Jean gave Dawn a considering look before speaking. "You might be able to someday. Your powers involve light and it may be possible to either use that as a sort of creative thruster or simple turn your body to light and fly that way."

Dawn immediately brightened up at her words. "Really? You really think so? That would be awesome!"

Hank cleared his throat and looked at Jean sternly. "Be that as it may, you should try to get along with him better. I know he annoys you but to in order to make our teamwork better we can't have any hiccups."

Jean huffed but conceded the point. She had been making things hard on them during their teamwork exercises by not listening to a lot of Scott's orders. Granted, she only ignored them when she thought of a better way of doing things but she still disobeyed them. The problem was she was too used to fighting alongside Wanda and Slade. They had trained together long enough that it was instinctive and a part of her resented having to take orders from someone other than Slade. It felt like she was betraying him in a way which was stupid but still, it was what she felt.

Jean grimaced but nodded her head. "Fine. I'll stop disobeying Scott's orders in the field. But he needs to learn to take the opinion of others into consideration. He can't just decide to take a certain way without taking everyone's input into consideration. The mark of a good leader is the ability to take everyone's opinion into consideration before making the best decision for everyone."

Dawn gave her a sly smile. "Like your ex-boyfriend, Slade?"

Jean blushed at that and ducked her head shyly as Hank and Dawn laughed at the look on her face.

Dawn looked at Jean with a curious look in her eyes. "So tell us about Slade? What's so special about him that you're still hung up on him despite you guys supposedly breaking up?"

Jean's smile turned soft and loving as her eyes turned introspective. "Slade is... well, the best way to describe it is mature for his age. He's kind and understanding while still being firm in his beliefs. He's really strong but at the same time he's so modest about it."

Dawn smiled happily at Jean, glad to see Jean truly smile. She had rarely done that since they met. "He sounds perfect."

Jean just laughed at that, causing Hank and Dawn to look confused. "Sorry, but he isn't. Slade is stubborn as a mule when it comes to his own health and always insists he's fine even when he's not. He's reckless and tends to charge in guns blazing in order to save a friend. He sucks at telling jokes, often coming up with terrible puns, though he does have some good ones and he's way too obsessed with anime and manga. In fact, most of his sp – I mean, attacks are inspired by all the manga he reads." Jean turned soft as she continued. "He snores a little when he sleeps and gets embarrassed when he's complimented. He does this thing where he hugs you and just breathes in your scent like he can never get enough of it."

Dawn's smile turned sly. "Is he handsome?"

Jean's blush told them what they needed to know about that but Jean forged on anyway. "Very handsome in that roguish, rugged sort of way. He's both the guy you bring home to your parents and the guy you want to have a one night stand with. When Slade wants to he can charm even the most traditional girl's pants off and still come across as good enough to have a serious relationship with."

Dawn's smile suddenly turned predatory. "And did he charm your pants off?" At Jean's blush and the way she wouldn't meet their eyes, Dawn couldn't help but be slightly shocked. "He did?! At 14?!"

Jean huffed. "He's turned 15 in April."

Hank cocked an eyebrow. "That doesn't help your case by much."

Jean blushed but then turned sad. "And now we've been separated and broken up. He's also out of contact for the summer so I can't even hear his voice till July. I... I miss him."

Hank smile sadly at her. "As Shakespeare once said: 'The course of true love never did run smooth.'"

Jean just pouted and crossed her arms over her chest childishly. "Stupid Shakespeare."

Dawn just laughed while Hank looked scandalized. "Relax, Hank. You know she doesn't mean it. She just misses her boy toy. I would never have pegged you for a pervert, Jean."

Jean blushed once more and playfully pushed Dawn in response, glad that she made a few friends here even if she still missed Wanda and Slade.

Wanda walked through the streets of Alexandria with wonder in her eyes. For someone who had lived such a sheltered life, Alexandria might as well been the Disney Land of historical anecdotes to her.

* * *

><p>Wanda smiled as she entered the Greco-Roman Museum, excited to be able to see the ancient treasures. Wanda could sense which items were magical in nature and which were simply swords and shields. It amused her to read a sign that said this was a simple example of a Greek Hoplite sword and sense the sheer magic the sword gave off. Nothing like Slade's Inanis, that was in a league of its own, but enough to know that they were enchanted.<p>

Agatha and she had been in Alexandria for a couple of days already. Agatha had brought her here first in order for Wanda to get used to the heat of Egypt before they left toward the pyramids in Giza and to study ancient Alexandrian methods of controlling one's magic when one had too much too young. Alexander the Great had many bastards in Alexandria during his time as ruler all those millennia ago and all of them had too much magic too young. These methods were created and implemented for those bastards in order to help them in controlling their magic.

Agatha was planning on them spending three days among the pyramids while Wanda learned from Agatha about the Ancient Egyptian sorcerers and how they rose and fell. It was interesting but Wanda didn't see how it related to her mastering her chaos magic. However, Wanda knew better than to question Agatha about that.

Wanda eventually wandered toward a near deserted part of the museum and her eyes were drawn to an amulet on display. The sign said that it was unknown what it was used for but that writings surrounding where it was found talked about rituals and the 'true nature of the world being chaos'. For some reason, Wanda was enraptured by the amulet.

The amulet had a solid gold chain, with the amulet itself being made of some kind of purple crystal in the shape of a five pointed star. The crystal had a crimson colored rune that was in the shape of an italicized 'D' inscribed into it that looked ancient in the manner of its style. It was strange because the letter 'D' was a recent thing and in ancient Egyptian, it wasn't even used.

"Strange amulet, isn't it?"

Wanda almost screamed in shock at the comment being said right next to her ear. Wanda turned around to find an amused Agatha looking at her with a smile on her face.

"Hello, Wanda. Does this amulet interest you?"

After her heart returned to her chest from where it had jumped into her throat, Wanda looked back at the amulet and shrugged. "Kinda. It sorta... draws me for some reason. I can sense it's magical but its aura... it seems... familiar for some reason."

Agatha's left eyebrow rose at her statement and she turned to study the amulet herself. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of the rune inscribed into it and she turned back to Wanda with a measuring look. "Well, that certainly explains it."

Wanda looked up at Agatha with a confused look. "Explains what, Aunt Agatha?"

Agatha smiled down at Wanda with a knowing look in her eye. "Did you know, Wanda, that about three decades ago the Elder God Chthon was summoned into this world temporarily?"

Wanda looked horrified. She had studied the Elder Gods, the beings who came before the present-day gods, soon after her capture by Pandora in order to study more about the ancient and omnipotent beings out there. Chthon was one of the only two known Elder Gods to have survived the massacre by Atum, son of the Demiurge and Gaea, who became the Demigorge. He and Set were the only ones of the Elder Gods turned demons that survived the massacre and that only by being banished to their own dimensions. The idea that someone was actually insane enough to summon Chthon to their dimension was beyond horrifying.

Agatha nodded at the horrified look in Wanda's eyes. "Yes, it is quite horrifying. Fortunately, Chthon was banished back to his realm before he could fully materialize in our plane or else we'd all be dead. However, this raises a question. The only known user of chaos magic is Chthon himself. Sorcerers like us can only use a small aspect of it and that only after centuries of study. This is because we must first learn how to destabilize the orderly strings that hold the universe together in order to bend them to our wishes. Yet here you are seemingly born with the ability to use chaos magic to a degree no other but Chthon has ever been able to. And so soon after Chthon was almost summoned to the world. Curious, no?"

Wanda frowned in confusion. "What are you trying to say, Aunt Agatha? I was born years after that happened."

Agatha nodded slowly. "Yes. You are physically only 15. Perhaps..." Agatha shook her head. "No, forget it. Just an old woman rambling. Still, be wary of Chthon. The fact that you can wield chaos magic like you do may attract his attention and I shiver at the thought of what he might have planned for you."

Wanda nodded her head in understanding and Agatha smiled. "Well, come along Wanda. We're leaving for Giza early. I managed to get us an early trip there and it's better not to waste the time we have. These two months may seem like a long time but they'll fly by faster than you can think."

Wanda groaned. She had been hoping to stay and study the sights for a while longer but surrendered herself to the inevitable. Plus, she wanted to gain control of her magic so she could use it without fear. For that, she'd gladly waste an entire summer studying.

Wanda followed Agatha out of the museum, missing the amulet glow a malevolent red behind her as they left.

* * *

><p>Slade fell down to the floor sweating like a pig as soon as Ulthane called for a stop. For Slade, it had been almost two months since he first arrived. However, Ulthane told him not to worry about time in here since Slade could return a minute after he left if he so wanted once he mastered SpaceTime magic. He had been making excellent progress on that front and had created a few attacks and defenses revolving it already.

In regards to his swordsmanship, things were going much slower but no less successful. It seemed as if Raiza's words were correct. While the sword did belong to Slade, he was unfamiliar with wielding a Western-style sword. It was heavier than he was used to and didn't allow for the lightning fast draws he was used to with a katana. Ulthane's way of training was both a good thing and a nightmare.

After making sure Slade knew the basic stances, Ulthane took to fighting him in brutal sparring matches, the goal being to encourage him to develop his own methods. Ulthane used everything from kicks to punches to using the long handle of the hammer itself to hit him instead of just the hammer part of it. He called it the Full Body Style where he used every part of his body as a weapon. Considering Ulthane's full strength was powerful enough to shatter holes through dimensional walls, Slade was glad Ulthane held back most of his strength.

Despite the brutality of it and the fact that the first few sparring matches ended in 30 minutes due to Slade passing out from the pain or being knocked unconscious, Slade had learned quickly. While not as good wielding Inanis as he was with Yamato, Slade could be considered near expert level wielding it. While he still got his ass handed to him by Ulthane on a regular basis, things were a lot closer than they were in the beginning.

Well... relatively speaking. He still got knocked out 3 hours into it half the time but the other half he actually managed to stay conscious till the end of the 6 hour spar. Today was one of those days.

Slade winced as he pushed himself off the floor to face Ulthane who looked amused at Slade's pain.

"Well, boy. You've consistently managed to last the entire spar for the fifth time in a row. That means you're ready to know something I've been meaning to tell you."

Slade looked confused at Ulthane's words and showed it. "What do you mean?"

"Inanis was a sword created by Void-Walkers for human goals. Once destroyed, it is impossible to reforge. Knowing that, how do you think I reforge it?"

Slade's eyebrow furrowed in confusion before shrugging. "Some kind of ability you Makers are capable of?"

Ulthane chuckled. "No boy. I didn't reforge it, I recreated it."

Slade looked up at Ulthane completely confused. "Huh?"

Ulthane sighed. "Sit down, I'm going to have to explain a few things first."

Slade obediently sat down and watched as Ulthane paced in front of him for a while before clearing his throat and starting to speak."

"Despite what ye humans think, humanity didn't start on this world. Well, it did but it didn't. Let me explain. This universe came into being when the previous universe ended by imploding into itself. It then exploded and created this universe. However, even the previous universe wasn't the first or even the second."

Ulthane sighed and his voice took on a lecturing tone. "In the beginning of Time, there was only one world which you know as Eden. It didn't have a set size but was unlimited and grew as we grew. The heavens didn't extend out into space but was truly the area of the Creator and his angels. In that time, there was no barriers between Heaven and Earth. This world didn't just have humans. It also had my people, the Makers as well as hundreds of other kinds of races. There were also mixes between the races as well as half-angels walking around."

Slade's eyebrows furrowed. "I thought it was forbidden for angels to breed with mortals."

Ulthane waved him off. "It is now but it wasn't then. Anyway, things were peaceful back then and everyone was at peace. That is, until Lucifer rebelled."

Ulthane looked at Slade with a knowing look in his eyes. "Do you know why he rebelled? And no, it wasn't because he was jealous of humans. Well, he was jealous but not of only humanity. And remember, he didn't rebel till years after humanity had been created."

Slade thought it over but came up blank. "No idea."

Ulthane smiled. "Really? Now then, recite to me the Five Miracles from fifth to first as well as what each one is about."

Slade cocked an eyebrow at the seemingly unrelated topic but shrugged. "The Fifth Miracle is the Miracle of Entropy. It the ability to destroy magic. Since magic is the essence of life and permeates everything, a user of this Miracle can destroy anything at all, even Concepts." Slade noticed Ulthane draw something in the sand but continued when Ulthane motioned him to continue. "The Fourth Miracle is the Miracle of Truth. It's the ability draw upon the Truth of the World That Came Before which I guess must be Eden and transmute it into our world." Ulthane again drew something into the sand in front of him but Slade continued. "The Third Miracle is the Miracle of Heaven's Feel also known as the Miracle of Materialization due to the many materials said to exist that allow the wielder to use the Miracle. This is the second least known of the five magics but from journal entries left of previous users of the magic, it's believed that it allows the user to "cut the flow" and anchor souls to the world. Personally, I theorize that this may refer to either Buddhist Samsara or the mythos of Akasha. Either way, it's believed to be quite powerful." Ulthane nodded slightly and drew something into the sand again. "The Second Miracle is the Miracle of Space-Time. This magic allows the user to transverse parallel universes on a whim and appear in any place during a set period of time or any time in a set place. The only known user is Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg." At this, Ulthane smirked as he drew yet another thing into the sand that Slade couldn't see. Slade ignored it and continued.

"The First and final Miracle is the Miracle of Creation. This is the least known of the Miracles and the only known user was Merlin himself. It's believed that it was using this that he created the wizarding faction. Notes left by him refer to the mythos of Izanagi but no one knows what he means by it."

Ulthane drew something again and nodded at it before looking up at Slade in expectation. "By the way, isn't one of the domains of magic Space-Time? So how is it also a Miracle of it's a basic domain?"

Slade readily answered. "It's because the Domain of Space-Time only involves changing space and time within the rules and confines of our dimension. Basically, you only bend the rules, not outright break them. The Miracle of Space-Time on the other hand, involves other dimensions and using them to the user's benefit. Normal sorcerers can't bend space and time of other dimensions from within this one."

Ulthane smirked. "You mean, like the way your katana Yamato does?"

Slade opened his mouth to deny it but froze when he realized Ulthane was right. Yamato not only created temporary parallel dimensions but allows one to use the Multi-Dimensional Refraction Phenomenon, a trademark of the Second Miracle.

"But... how's that possible?! I mean, I never studied that before so how can I create a blade capable of the Second Miracle if I never studied it?!"

"Its cause of the Fate/Kaleidoscope rune you carved into it," explained Ulthane smugly.

Slade just became confused. "What does Runes have to do with the Miracles?"

Ulthane put up a placating hand. "Let me explain. Now, you should know that of the Fate series of Runes of the First Language, there are five that are known as the Runes of the Soul. These are Fate/Creation, Fate/Kaleidoscope, Fate/Materialization, Fate/Truth and Fate/Remove. Fate/Remove allows one to destroy anything, including magic. Fate/Truth allows one to draw upon Eden and bring anything from it into our dimension. Fate/Materialization allows one to affect the souls of the dead. Fate/Kaleidoscope involves Space-Time and Fate/Creation allows one to create anything one could imagine. Do these remind you of anything?"

Slade's eyes widened as he connected the dots. "Those Runes... they allow one to use the Five Miracles?!"

Ulthane nodded. "Yes indeed. Each one of those five Fate Runes, known as the Runes of the Soul rule over what is now known as the Five Miracles. This is why you can use the Second Miracle through your blade despite never studying it before. You can now use the second Miracle due to having your magic acclimated to the Miracle after using it so much since you got here. What do you think your Kamui technique comes from? You're not just bending Space and Time so attacks pass through you like a ghost. You're temporarily sending your body to your own pocket dimension where no attack except another Space-Time one can reach you."

Slade's eyes widened at what he had unknowingly created. He had just wanted to create a Space-Time defense in case he didn't have a shield strong enough to withstand an attack. Kamui came to him almost instinctively now and he could activate it much faster than he could a strong shield. He would have a create his own type of shield that was easy to put up and strong enough to withstand even the most powerful spells but that was for another time.

Slade blinked as Ulthane's words sunk in. "Okay, but what does this have to do with why Lucifer rebelled?"

Ulthane smirked. "Come over here."

Slade stood up and walked over to stand beside Ulthane saw what he drawn in the sand. He had drawn the five Fate Runes of the Soul. Slade had already memorized and learned them even if he still hadn't mastered all their aspects. Funnily enough, he was closest to mastering Fate/Kaleidoscope. At least now he knew why.

Ulthane pointed at the runes. "Now, back then each rune was under a sole being's domain of control. Fate/Kaleidoscope was under the domain of the Concept of Eternity/Infinity. He had control over all of space and time. Fate/Materials was under the domain of the Concept of Death/Void. He had the ability to control souls and at times, anchor them to the world. Fate/Truth was an ability all angels had and at the time, it involved being able to change anything in Eden to anything else. Nowadays, it involves calling upon the energies of that locked dimension of Eden and transmute it into our world. They might not be able to travel there but they can draw upon its energy, which is limitless. Fate/Remove was under the sole domain of the Archangels, which gave them the sole power to destroy anything they were ordered to. This is why Lucifer is so dangerous. He still has that power due to having been an archangel. It's believed that he could destroy the Creator himself if he became powerful enough. Even fallen angels are dangerous because they still have the ability of Fate/Truth and call upon the energies of Eden to power their attacks."

Slade's eyebrows furrowed as he realized something. "You forgot about Fate/Creation."

Ulthane smirked. "And that is the reason why Lucifer rebelled. See, originally only the Creator had the ability to well, create. His domain was Fate/Creation and through love, he created everything. Guess what domain us mortals were allowed to use?"

Slade looked shocked as he connected the dots. "Fate/Creation?"

Ulthane shook his head and Slade became confused until he spoke. "Not Fate/Creation alone. The Creator gave us the ability to use all of them."

Slade's eyes almost rolled out of his sockets due to how much they widened. "B-but, then we'd be the strongest of all of them and no offense, but I certainly can't match the archangels!"

Ulthane nodded his head. "True, we're not born with the ability. However, we are born with the potential to use them. That's what made Lucifer so jealous. In his eyes, the Creator gave us weak, mortal beings powers that we didn't deserve. He believed we were unworthy of them and that the Creator had made a mistake. He tried to prove it by corrupting Lilith and he succeeded in corrupting her. However, this only made the Creator angry and he banished Lucifer from Heaven. In response, Lucifer used Lilith's, who was still technically mortal at the time and therefore had a soul, ability to create and impregnated her. Their darkness affected the embryo and Lilith gave birth to the Old Ones. The Old Ones were the only pure demons and they warred as we breathed; endlessly. Lilith's unwilling impregnation of these creatures stripped her of her soul and she became the Concept of Lust. She's now incapable of creating truly creating something. Oh, she created the Nephilim during the later stages of the war, but she did this by tapping into the power of creation of mortals and mixing it with the energies of demons and angels."

Ulthane continued. "All things with a soul can create. Why do you think angels and demons needed us Makers to create their weapons? They couldn't do it themselves. Why do you think I had to create Michael's sword? Because he couldn't. It's also the reason I'm allowed to live. Both sides hope they can sway me to their side when the war recommences so I'll create weapons for them."

Slade nodded slowly. "Okay... but what does this have to with anything. I mean, it's interesting but how does this affect me?"

Ulthane rolled his eyes and muttered. "Young people's impatience." Ulthane glared at him. "I was getting to that. Anyway, where do you think the idea of Inanis came from? Inanis was derived from the legends of Gram and the one who forged it drew upon that idea. However, Gram itself was derived from the legends of the sword Merodach. What do all these swords have in common?"

Slade thought hard on the legends revolving the swords before answering. "They all were drawn from somewhere and the action of them being drawn symbolized the one who drew them was the king."

Ulthane nodded happily. "Exactly! What I did was rather than reforge the broken pieces of Inanis, I got a piece of the original blade that inspired all three blades and sort of changed it to reflect its latest incarnation, Inanis."

"The original blade that inspired all three? So there was a blade before Merodach?" asked Slade curiously. "What was it?"

Ulthane face took on a grim look. "And this is where it all ties together. See, when the Creator froze Eden and banished everyone, he went one step further in order to stop the war forever. He used the Sword That Was Created before the Concept of Sword and used it to separate Heaven and the newly created Hell. He created a pair of thick 'Gates' that had Eden in the middle. Since Eden was the only place where angels and demons could fight, they had to first destroy the gates in order to reach it. The Sword was inscribed with the entire Runes Series of the First Language and made it so the gates could not be destroyed by even Archangels unless a special prerequisite was fulfilled. The Creator then made the prerequisite being opening a set of keyholes that had to be opened in order to reach Eden and continue the War. Know what those keyholes were?"

Slade shook his head, enraptured by the tale.

"The multiverses. It was the ultimate slap in the face. Each multiverse is a keyhole to open the gates and there are hundreds of multiverses out there in the Omniverse. In order to open each keyhole, the demons have to destroy each multiverse. The only way to do that is to destroy enough universes of the multiverse until it activates a cascade that destroy the entire multiverse. However, a new universe is created for every major decision a person makes. Since there are billions of people on your planet alone, that's at least a thousand major decisions a day being made. That's just your planet. That's not counting every other planet out there. To make things worse, every time a person dreams of an entirely new world such as writing a new book series or a new comic book world, a new multiverse is created. As you can imagine, the Creator made the ultimate can't win scenario for the demons. Universes are created faster than they can be destroyed and the angels, despite wanting to continue the war, are forbidden from helping destroy universes since their role is safeguard life."

Ulthane's face became grim. "However, there was a way around this. What the Sword could create, it could also destroy. The Creator couldn't trust his own angels to protect it because they wanted to continue the war. Therefore, he broke the sword into 32 pieces, each piece holding one of the Runes of the First Language, and scattered them across the Omniverse. He said that the sword would only be wielded by The King. Two of those pieces, the one holding the rune of Fate/Victory and Fate/Void came into my possession and it was the first one that sword that inspired Merodach and Gram while the other inspired Inanis. I changed it to look similar to Inanis and that is the sword you wield."

Slade look down at the sword he had thought was Inanis in awe, never realizing just what he had been wielding this entire time. He looked up at Ulthane with a questioning look. "What does that mean?"

Ulthane smirked. "It means that you can't truly master that blade until you know its true name. Once you do, it will be able to use all the powers and abilities of all its incarnations and it will be able to speak to you. It will become a true partner rather than just a sword."

Slade looked down at the sword and back up at Ulthane. "And how do I figure out its name?"

Ulthane smirked. "The name is inscribed onto it. You just have to find it. We won't continue your lessons until you do so you better get started."

Slade grumbled as he sat down, placed the blade on his lap and started to study it.

It had been two days since Ulthane revealed the truth about his blade and he was no closer to figuring out its name than he was the first hour of studying it.

Slade was almost at his wit's end. Ulthane refused to help and told him it was something he had to find for himself if he wanted to truly master the blade. Slade grumbled but conceded and returned to studying the blade.

Despite many attempts, Slade had found no secret markings on the blade. He just saw the entire Rune Series of the First Language inscribed on its length. He noticed that the Fate/Void rune was at the end of the sequence and seemed to glow a purple color at times but realized it must be because the blade was the piece of the Original Sword that holds the Fate/Void rune. The rest of the runes were a dark black color, which probably meant that it didn't have any piece of the Sword beside the Fate/Void one.

Slade groaned as he realized he had to fall onto his back-up plan.

The Sight is a form of supernatural perception most high-level sorcerers were capable of. Use of the Sight, sometimes also referred to as "third eye", allows a sorcerer to gaze upon the world and see its supernatural side, allowing the perception of things hidden to the normal eye. What has been seen through the use of the Sight will remain a lasting memory forever, and will neither fade nor be forgotten. Because of this, sorcerers don't use it often, for it could easily drive them insane.

Personally, Slade didn't think it made much difference for him since he never forgot anything he ever say anyway so it was a moot point in that regard. However, the Sight could be dangerous even to him. It showed the true form of anything and some things are not meant to be seen by mortal eyes. He had to be very careful not to use it all the time or risk seeing something he was not meant to see.

Taking a deep breath, Slade reached out with his Sight, trying to find any hidden indentations that may give him a clue to the sword's name.

As he gazed at the sword through his Sight, he noticed that some lines of the runes seemed to slightly glow in his Sight. Not like the Fate/Void rune but more than the other runes. This could be nothing more than random coincidence... or, perhaps, they could be something more. At first, Slade dismissed it as his imagination. What were the chances that it was so easy?

Still, the runes seemed to beckon to me. Straining to focus his Sight even sharper, Slade tried to make sense of the slightly glowing lines. Soon, he detected a rhythm, a pattern, to the lines. There were straight lines. And curves. And corners. Writing a language that seemed older than Time itself. Throwing all his power into the task, Slade followed the hidden indentations.

The first letter came clear, almost as if remembering a long-forgotten language. Then... the second. And the third. The fourth, the fifth... all the way to the end of the word. That was all the faintly glowing lines created. A single, strange word.

Slade spoke the word, not out loud, but within the walls of my mind. Pronounced it slowly, carefully, savoring the richness beneath the name and inscribing it onto the walls of his very soul. In return, the sword spoke to him, declaring its inglorious past and future. I am the sword of balance, light and dark have no meaning to me. I am the sword of The Void, now and forever.

All of a sudden, the sword glowed a strange dark purple light that bathed the clearing where Slade was sitting and for a second, the dimension that was stuck in perpetual night was lit up as bright as if under a end of day sun. When the light passed, Slade looked down at his new sword.

The blade now looked to be made of solid silver yet had an edge that told Slade that it would never break. The rune scheme had disappeared, leaving only the glowing Fate/Void Rune etched onto the shoulder of the blade above the guard. The guard itself was a solid black color while the grip was dark purple. The pommel had a dark topaz on it instead of the previous purple jewel and Slade noticed the color matched his eyes. It was a typical Western-style sword of around the 6th century with a length of ninety centimeters and a width of twelve centimeters.

While there were many other blades crafted more splendidly and with better skill, Slade knew that this blade was one far superior to them. Slade could not call it beautiful because of its appearance for the description of "beautiful" would only dirty it. The only word that Slade could think of in regards to it was sacred. It seemed to be made out of the very ideas and hopes behind victory, made from people's conception.

As information of the blade entered Slade's mind form the blade itself, he realized a few things.

The blade itself was a crystallization of the prayer named "Void" and everything etched in the hearts of those that cling to the hell of oblivion. The nostalgic, sorrowful, and hallowed dream of those who were placed on the bloody hell called a battlefield, of all warriors past, present, and future fully exposed to the fear of death and despair, and who still fight it, clinging to a single hope: "I dream of a better world." The blade reflects the dreams of all those who dream of void in order to make a balance of world for those that came after, a balance of both good and bad.

Slade could only stare in awe at the blade and be humbled that he was chosen to wield it. Only now, holding it in his hand did he understand how lucky he was to have been chosen to wield it.

"Master, give me a name to carry into battle with you."

Slade looked down at the blade in surprise but answered. "But... you already have a name."

"It is not wise to say my true name out loud. True names have power and giving another my true name is dangerous. Not even Ulthane knows it. So give me another name, to hide my true one."

Slade nodded and after a moment of thought, decided on the perfect name. "Líthi. Your name from now on shall be Líthi."

Slade stood before Ulthane with a small smile, Líthi inside its sheath Mir, which Slade had also learned to use, and Yamato sealed inside his belt.

From Slade's point of view, it had been at least a year since he arrived. It had taken that long to truly understand all the concepts and ways each one of the First Language runes could be used. Truly, what Ulthane said was true. The basics are usually the most variable and powerful of any type of magic. Slade was glad he had decided to come.

Training with Ulthane had cause Slade to bulk up a bit more in order to have the strength to stand up to Ulthane's blows, held back though they were. He was now slightly more muscular than before, although not like a body builder but more like a swimmer or runner. It gave him a good base for strength while still being built for speed. In fact, Slade's entire style revolved around speed and in the free time he'd had from Ulthane's training, he's created a few techniques revolving around it.

Slade was currently wearing black pants and a crimson t-shirt with a black leather duster over it. His leather duster had runes and enchantments cast over it that made it capable of standing up to everything short of a nuclear bomb. It was his second line of defense in case he wasn't fast enough to put up a shield to defend himself.

Slade had also mastered the Fate/Kaleidoscope rune and showed it by tattooing it on his back much like Ulthane did. It allowed Slade to use his space-time techniques without an incantation, only an activation word. If he was someday so inclined, he could also use it as a base to tattoo an alchemical array on his body. The Fate/Kaleidoscope rune would also stay exactly the same size relative to his back and wouldn't deform and change much like other tattoos did as a person grew. Just one of the many perks of the First Language runes.

Ulthane looked Slade over and nodded his head in approval. "Alright, boy. You're ready to leave. Now remember to focus on your destination when you use Space-Time techniques. My dimension is outside of Time and its timeline is different than the rest of the Omniverse. You could easily become lost if you don't."

Slade nodded his understanding. "I understand, Ulthane. Thanks for everything and I'll be sure to come back someday to take you up on your offer to use your forge."

Ulthane smirked. "I'm sure ye will. Now get going. I've got stuff to do and I'm behind schedule due to yer lazy ass."

Slade rolled his eyes with a smile before nodding and activating his technique. "Kamui." A swirl began from the center of his back and it drew Slade in till he disappeared.

Ulthane was left alone on his island and suddenly remembered something. "I hope he remembered to concentrate on the correct timeline or else he could get lost in time." Ulthane just shrugged. "Oh well, not my problem."

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><p><strong>Where someday Greenwich Village would stand, 527 A.D.<strong>

Slade appeared in a swirl of color standing where someday the Sanctum Sanctorum would stand. He looked around in confusion as he stood in the clearing and saw the untouched earth and trees. He could only say two words to sum up his situation.

"Well, shit."

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><p><strong>AN: I just realized after reviewing my plans for this series that I have space to add three people to the harem. So the top three will be joining. I will be getting rid of the old poll and putting up a new one starting with a clean state. Congratulations to Janet van Dyne/Wasp for making the cut in the first poll.**

**The poll will be as followed:**

**Gamora **

**Ava Ayala/White Tiger**

**Dani Moonstar**

**Karima Shapandar/Omega Sentinel**

**Illyana Rasputin/Magik**

**Barbara Morse/Mockingbird**

**Ophelia Sarkissian/Viper**

**Silver Sablinova/Silver Sable**

**And please vote on the poll, not in a review. **


	12. Chapter 11: Past Catastrophes Part 1

Chapter 11: Past Catastrophes Part 1

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. All other concepts and ideas from other books or stories belong to their respective authors. No copyright infringement is intended.<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Streets of Constantinople, late 531 A.D.<strong>

Slade walked through the streets of Constantinople, having just returned from the campaign along the eastern frontier. New of the death Kavadh I of Persia had reached Slade's, now known as Sladian, expectations to the end of the hostilities had caused his very successful legion to be called back from the front lines. Sladian was glad for the respite from the constant battle, it gave him time to wind down and hopefully get rid of the nightmares that had been plaguing for almost two years now and caused him to lose precious hours of sleep.

It has been four years since he was stranded in this era after his use of Kamui and he had changed greatly from the boy of 15 he was before. The promise of manhood that was seen on him before had become reality and he was now a tall, broad-shouldered 19 year old man that walked with confidence and strength. He had been forced to grow up from the naïve boy he was before in order to survive this era.

It hadn't taken Sladian long to realize that something had gone wrong once he landed in the clearing he arrived at. A few spells confirmed he was in the right place... just the wrong time. He had transported to Greenwich Village almost a full millennia before Columbus even thought of sailing west. Attempts to use Kamui to go to his own time had failed for some reason so he had tried to go to Ulthane's dimension to then travel from there to his own time.

That had almost gotten him killed.

When he came back to consciousness in the same clearing he had appeared in, he remembered something he had dismissed in his magical studies of history.

The years from 13th century B.C. when Salome lost her position of Sorceress Supreme of this universe to the time Merlin became Sorcerer Supreme in the 6th century A.D. was known as the Age of Chaos. This was due to many reasons. For one, the title of Sorcerer Supreme was given to someone not of Earth and since the idea of life on other planets was unknown in that time, it was thought that the position of Sorcerer Supreme had been lost. For that reason, what had once been a loosely associated community of magical beings had descended into anarchy amongst themselves as they fought for what they thought was basically a crown. It wasn't until Merlin was named Sorcerer Supreme and brought order to the thousands of magical beings on Earth was there an end to the constant fighting amongst magicals.

This was made worse by the fact that the portals to other dimensions had been blocked off and almost none of the sorcerers of the time had any patrons. The Vishanti especially were cut off from the planet until a little before Merlin became Sorcerer Supreme. The gods did not dare patron anyone for fear that the person would become a target by jealous sorcerers. The Magi especially were known to be especially ruthless in this time as they targeted anyone not associated with them with even an inkling of power.

This brought Slade to his current problem. Slade had quickly left what would someday be known as the Americas and flew toward Europe in hope of finding someone to help him return home.

In hindsight, this was a very bad idea. While in his own time, the sight of him flying would be too brief due to his speed as well as passed off as some kind of experimental governmental aircraft, in the current era it was quickly identified as magic. The problem was that the ability to fly at such speeds was rare even among the strongest of sorcerers and Slade quickly became the target of curiosity amongst magicals.

This was made worse by the fact that while flying over Gaul he had been drawn to a magical fight happening between six sorcerers, one of them against the other five. Being the stupidly noble person he was and recognizing that the five fighting together were using dark magic, Slade had stopped to help the one fighting alone.

He had quickly come to realize the difference between magical fights in his time and now. Every spell was lethal, every movement planned for a greater purpose and it was only thanks to his advanced and obscure skills, not to mention heavy usage of Kamui's intangibility, which he survived. However, the one he tried to save wasn't so lucky and was mortally wounded in the fight although he managed to take the other five with him. With his dying breaths he revealed himself to have been chosen as the first Earth-based Sorcerer Supreme since Salome and passed on the title to Slade himself before dying.

Slade had quickly found out that the Sorcerer Supreme position in this time gave him no power-ups or special skills beyond usage of the Cloak of Levitation, something Slade didn't use anyway. This was due to the fact that the pathways that let the Vishanti empower their Sorcerer Supreme on Earth were cut off for some reason. This, more than anything, was the reason that there had been no Sorcerer Supreme on Earth since Salome. They had sent their current Sorcerer Supreme to Earth in order to find a way to fix this problem only for him to be killed and pass on the title to the man who just passed it on to Slade.

Just wonderful.

The only good part was that the damaged pathways to their patrons also prevented any demonic attacks from outside their dimension. Slade had been ecstatic to find he didn't have to fight Nightmare or anyone like that yet and hoped to keep his new position a secret.

His hopes were dashed when word had somehow gone out that Slade was the new Sorcerer Supreme. Hundreds of magicals had swarmed to kill him and claim the position for themselves, not knowing that the position was basically useless without a connection to the Vishanti. After the third time he was tricked by someone pretending to want to help him, Slade realized something.

There was no White Council to enforce the laws.

There was no higher authority to help him.

There was no Dr. Strange to bail him out of trouble.

He was completely on his own.

After realizing this, Slade changed his name to Sladian and stopped holding back on his enemies especially because after that third trick, he was forced to be a gladiator. Sladian was fighting to the death and every day for the next three years from late 527 to early 530 A.D. The first was spent on winning his freedom in the Arena. After he won, he spent the other two plotting and murdering his way to a position of power where he proved he deserved his position as Sorcerer Supreme. After various brutal demonstrations that his youth was not indicative of his power, most magicals stopped actively hunting him. That didn't mean they wouldn't try to kill him if the chance presented itself, it just meant they wouldn't waste resources hunting him.

Sladian had also used those years to find the state of the magical world of the era. What he found was very interesting.

Apparently, the Roman Empire was like a coin. On one side you had the non-magical side that was recorded in history. On the other, Sladian found that the reason Emperors changed so often was because each Emperor was actually magical, starting from Augustus down. For this reason, the Emperor was often killed off by an aspiring nephew or son who became more powerful, magically speaking, than the current Emperor and replaced him. It made sense since no magical would allow himself to be ruled by a mundane of all people. It was for this reason that dynasties ended so quickly. They tried to keep it hereditary but Squibs were often born in the lines for some reason and the magicals quickly killed the rightful Emperor to replace him with one that had magic.

The Western Roman Empire had fallen almost 70 years ago and with it, any semblance of order in the West. The current Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire was Justinian I who had gained the throne from his uncle after the latter mysteriously fell ill and died. Sladian had no idea whether he poisoned him or not since he inherited the title during a time of warfare and it may have been the enemy. Either way Sladian didn't care or it didn't concern him.

In late 530 A.D., after cementing his position as a powerful sorcerer, he tried to claim a seat in Justinian's magical council in order to have access to both the Clock Tower, in order to see if he could speak to Kischur, as well as the large library of magic accessible only to members of the council. However, he had been told he could only become a member after having at least a year of experience in the military. It had basically been a ploy to get the Sorcerer Supreme to fight for them in the current war and turn the tide in their favor. Sladian didn't want to but could see no other recourse and agreed.

Slade signed up as a simple legionary, since he had no proof of nobility for a higher position, called Sladian and became a member of the 8th cohort of the 5th legion.

The following two years of warfare were a nightmare of entrenched positioning and attempts to fortify positions along the frontier of the empire. Bad calls and bad leadership had led Sladian to sometimes have to fight his way through droves of enemy soldiers with nothing but his magic, his shield and Líthi to defend him. Most times he was the only living soldier left of his cohort and this, sadly, led him to slowly but surely rise the ranks until he was now the 1st centurion of the 2nd cohort of the 5th legion. He would have preferred it if he won the position due to his merits alone. However, he was given the position mostly because he was one of the only ones with any seniority left alive in his entire legion after the first three months of warfare alone.

Líthi had drawn a few eyes due to most legionaries using spatha but they chalked it up to him being magical and let it go. Most legionaries out on the field didn't care what you fought with as long as it worked. Sladian always fought with a clipeus shield on his left arm that had a back-up gladius strapped along the inside just in case, and Líthi in his right hand. His charges into the thick of the fighting were always a welcome sight amongst the legionaries.

In Roman warfare, magicals were usually used to counter the enemies' own magicals. Unfortunately, Sladian was the only magical in his entire legion that could summon a decent fireball, much less fight toe to toe with the powerful sorcerers the Sassanid Empire were throwing at them.

For this reason, it was quite common for Sladian to face 5 or 6 powerful Sassanid sorcerers at once in a simple engagement alone. The major battles usually had Sladian fighting 15 to 20 sorcerers at once, each second thinking he would slip and die, his heart pounding in his chest out of pure adrenaline. This more than anything forced Sladian to abandon any semblance of mercy and take no prisoners as well as not waste time in meaningless incantations. After 2 years of entrenched warfare with seeming end in sight, Sladian had mastered the art of using only enough energy to kill his enemy quickly and efficiently (and at times silently) and moving on to the next.

After all, necessity is the mother of all invention.

His gaining a position of command had also instilled Sladian with a sense of responsibility over those under his command. This responsibility had caused Sladian to always make sure his cohort stayed alive even in the worst of positions. At first, Sladian was forced to use most of his own energy to keep them alive. But after some months of brutal experience, Sladian could now successfully lead his troops into most engagements and complete his assignments without losing more than a handful of men at the most.

This along with his undefeated streak in the Arena had quickly gained Sladian his surname of Invictus, which meant unbeatable. His cohort became well known among the regular legionaries as having the highest survival rate in the Iberian War and that they completed every assignment successfully, even when they were ordered to defend a position alone against an overwhelming number of enemies. His troops had quickly learned to abandon the conventional modes of engagement and use any and all dirty tricks to survive and win. This meant anything from picking the proper terrain for ambushes to throwing mud in the enemy's eyes for an advantage.

In fact, the victory at Dara had largely been due to Sladian's cohort managing to defend the gates of the city alone while the rest of the army attacked from the enemies' flanks. Sladian had done this by spending the entire night before placing basic magical "mines" all along the ground in front of the gates. When the enemy army rushed forward and attacked the gates, Sladian waited till there was a maximum amount of enemy troops in range and detonated them, killing half of the enemy army in one fell swoop.

It was actually the first time the idea of magical mines were even thought of and Sladian didn't know whether to be proud or ashamed for adding another angle to magical warfare.

The fact that Sladian was in the middle of a war didn't stop the political machinations of the roman magical council. Sladian spent many a night on the field defending himself from everything from assassins that attacked while he was taking a piss to assassins dressed as prostitutes to get him to lower his guard.

All in all, the bloody politics of the magical council had turned Sladian into a cunning and smart man who could spot a lie or half-truth a mile away while the bloody battlefields along the eastern frontier had taught him how to command troops and pick the best battle plans with very little information. Both experiences had taught him patience as well as how and when to wield his magic most effectively. He was no longer the stupid boy that yelled out incantations and threw around magic like it was going out of style. He was now more likely to dodge all of the enemies' attacks and then kill then with a quick lightning-enhanced sword thrust than waste magic trading spells.

Sladian was now walking toward his newest accommodations in relief, having just come back from the ceremony that gained him a seat on the magical council. The council hadn't even waited for him to rest before inaugurating him into the council. Probably out of fear and a need to suck up to him.

He was still wearing his old gladiator armor, having no other clean clothes on him, and carrying a magically expanded bag with his stuff on his back. With the money he had won during the campaign, Sladian had bought a small house along the Marmara Sea District which was unofficially known as the magical district of Constantinople. While not publicly known, anyone of importance knew that magicals lived here and stayed clear.

Sladian reached his newest place of residence and experienced eyes searched for any traps, magical or otherwise. After a few minutes of searching for anything through all of his senses and even activating his Sight, Sladian walked into his new home.

The house was built in the ancient roman style instead of the new byzantine style that was all the rage nowadays. It consisted of a main door that led to a vestibulum or entrance hall that led to the atrium or formal entrance hall. On either side of the vestibulum were a taberna which were large rooms that were usually used as shops to sell goods. Slade was planning on selling both enchanted clothing in one and the services to inscribe runes on most things in the other. He might take an apprentice or two to help him but only after making sure they were completely trustworthy. If he couldn't find one, then he would buy two young slaves with magical aptitude in the market and put a loyalty seal on them. It might sound cruel but in these times where slaves were sometimes used to strangle their owners in their bed, it was a necessary measure.

In the atrium itself, there was a fountain in the center as well as four cubiculum along the walls, two on either side, which were small rooms for when guests stayed the night. Across from the vestibulum was the door to the tablinum or study where the owner could have meetings with important guests. On either side of the tablinum was the dining room to receive guests and the kitchen. Beyond the tablinum was the peristylium or garden which held the private rooms for the master of the house and his family along one wall. The garden was used among magicals to grow potion ingredients and Sladian was planning on using it for this very reason. Beyond that was another dining room for family gatherings only and the exedra or garden room where the tools to maintain the garden were kept.

While traditional, the layout allowed Sladian many places to place runes and enchantments to protect the residence as well as various places to make a bottleneck in case of attacks. The only avenue of attack was the vestibulum which was only big enough for two men to stand side to side, something Sladian could easily defend against. Houses nowadays were too open and had too many avenues of attack for Sladian's taste and so he preferred to waste more money building a house to his specifications than feeling unsafe in his own home.

As he crossed the threshold into the vestibulum, Sladian paused as his senses detected people inside the atrium. The fact that he didn't detect them till now told him they were especially skilled at hiding their magical auras meaning they were high level magicals at the very least. He slowly walked into the atrium which had already been furnished for him and stopped as he took in his unannounced guests.

There were three women waiting for him in the atrium, sitting on the edge of the fountain Sladian had installed. All three were stunningly beautiful even to Sladian's high standards and dressed in clothing that both enhanced their beauty while maintaining their modesty. There were two dark-haired women and one red-haired woman sitting side by side on the fountain's edge with the redhead on the far left.

Sladian took in the women with the eye of someone wondering whether to kill them now or wait for them to explain themselves. The fact that they were a threat was a given. They had managed to evade his senses until after he had entered the household proper, something which spoke of their prodigious magical skills. However, the fact that they hadn't tried to attack told him they came in peace, not that that changed much. Plenty of people had come to Sladian in peace only to attempt to kill him once he declined their "generous offers". For now, he would hear them out. If they attempted to force the issue, he would baptize his new home in their blood.

After sizing up their magical threat level, Sladian moved on to their physical attributes. The redhead had wine-colored eyes that spoke of long experience and confidence in her skills. Her clothing did nothing to retract from her womanly figure which showed long, full figured legs which she brazenly showed as she crossed one leg over the other and large full breasts only slightly smaller than the dark-haired woman in the middle. Instead of having her hair in braids or wrapped in a bun, she had her long red hair loose and flowing down her back. She was wearing the common byzantine robes for women but instead of white, red or green as the primary color she wore purple. A brave act since purple was usually the color of royalty alone. She either thought herself royalty or was powerful enough to get away with it. From the arrogance hidden in her eyes, probably a mixture of both.

The dark-haired woman on the far right had deep blue eyes and was just as beautiful as the redhead but with a different air around her. While the redhead had the air of a seductress and used to having men obeying her for that very reason, this one had the air of someone used to being obeyed due to her power alone. She had a full bodied figure much like her friends but rather than attract attention to her curves, she seemed to try to hide them, probably due to not being as curvaceous as her friends. Despite this, Sladian could see that even the loose tunics she was wearing could not hide her full breasts that were around a C-cup in size and legs that were muscular without detracting from her femininity. He only saw this because she also had one leg crossed over the other and despite her attempt to cover them in her long dress, his sharp eyes still caught sight of them. Unlike her friend, she had her hair wrapped in a bun that was tied on top of her head. She was wearing the common byzantine robes much like her friend, but hers had blue instead of purple as the primary color.

Sladian briefly wondered if the colors had any meaning before dismissing it and turning to the one sitting in the center and who was the obvious leader of the group.

If the ones beside her were beautiful, the only word to describe the leader was a goddess. Truly, Sladian doubted even Aphrodite could match her beauty. Her skin was an unblemished ivory that looked as if it was carved by angels over centuries, going slow as if to make sure not a single blemish was made. Her chocolate colored eyes had a look in them that was both seductive and dangerous yet had an ageless quality to them that spoke of experience beyond her physical age. Unlike her redhead friend who despite her best attempts, still looked well suited for a brothel than polite company, she looked every bit a sophisticated roman woman. No, she looked more like a queen gracing her subjects with her presence.

Her hair was black like a starless night sky and loose like her friend's, but hers fell down her back in waves that somehow made her look respectable even in these sexually restrictive times. Her clothing was made to cover most of her skin and had red accents, marking her as a member of the non-magical Senate. Sladian gave thanks to the god for the fact that she was currently leaning back on the fountain with one leg over the other, letting him get a glimpse of her wonderful legs. Her legs, despite Sladian's best attempts to not be distracted, still grabbed his attention and made her friends' look ugly in comparison. They were long and slender while still being slightly muscular in a way that only added to their attractiveness. Her chest was the biggest of three and even her loose roman-style dress couldn't hide them from view. She was currently looking at Sladian with a small smile on her face that looked both seductive and inviting, as if she knew the effect she had on him and was more than willing to explore it.

Sladian gathered his wits and cleared his throat, much to the leader's amusement. "Good afternoon, ladies," said Sladian in flawless Latin. It had taken a while but the heavy usage of translation charms and pure necessity had turned Slade into quite a linguist. He spoke perfect Latin, Greek and various other languages necessary to live in these times "I would invite you into my home but it seems you have invited yourselves already."

The slight rebuke went ignored and the leader of the group stood up, her friends following suit. "We only came here to greet you. We are neighbors now and I wish for us to be friends at the very least."

Sladian smiled but internally scoffed. Friends was a word that didn't exist in this time of betrayal and war. The idea that these beautiful women were nothing less than extremely dangerous and attempting to ally with him due to his position and reputation was amusing. Sladian decided to play along for now and see whether their intentions were advantageous or disadvantageous to himself in the long run.

Despite this, Sladian kept his thoughts firmly protected behind strong mental shields and smiled at them politely. "I would be delighted to be friends with such beautiful and cultured ladies. May I have the honor of knowing your names?"

The redhead smiled seductively at him and winked gaining a low reprimand from the dark-haired friend, causing her to roll her eyes. The leader ignored them and simply smiled softly. "My name is Selene and these are my friends, Circe," the redhead smiled at him invitingly, "and Morwen." Unlike Circe, the other dark haired woman only gave him a nod of acknowledgement. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Sladian smiled pleasantly while his mind was a whirl of thoughts. Other than Circe, none of their names sounded familiar. Even Circe was just due to her name being the same as the century old witch from Greek tales. Sladian doubted this was the same woman since it was confirmed that the original Circe was dead. It was also known that the original Circe was a known man-hater yet this one seemed quite flirtatious to the point it would be scandalous to anyone else in this time period. Despite this, he stayed on his guard just in case.

Sladian took Selene's hand and laid a kiss on the back of it, smiling internally as he saw Selene flush slightly from the feel of his soft lips on her hand. "It is an honor to have such beauty counted amongst my friends and I hope we will get to know each other better in the coming days."

Selene managed to control herself and simply smile at him indulgently. "I'm sure we will. Come, girls. We have much to do and I'm sure our friend here wants to retire for the day."

Circe winked at him as she left and purposefully added a sway to her hips that Sladian had to internally admit complimented her hips. Morwen simply gave him a curt goodbye and walked out without a word.

The last to leave was Selene and she stopped at the threshold leading outside and turned back to Sladian with a smile. "We're having a small get together in three days and you're welcome to come. It's only us and some old friends who are here for a visit. We would be happy if you would come as well. We might die of boredom otherwise."

Sladian simply smiled while wondering what her angle was. "I'll see what I can do, ladies."

Selene nodded. "That's all I ask."

Sladian watched the admittedly attractive trio of women walk toward their house which was further down the street before starting to place defenses and wards around his house to prevent any further uninvited guests in the future while trying to get the image of Selene's smile out of his mind.

That night, for the first time in two years, he slept without nightmares of the screams of dying soldiers, the ravenous roars of the bloodthirsty crowds and arrows falling from the sky. Instead, Sladian dreamt of Selene's deep and seductive chocolate eyes, her beautiful smile and the tantalizing sight of her beautiful legs.

As soon as the door closed behind them, the smiles dropped off the women's faces and calculating looks replaced it.

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><p>"So, that was Sladian Invictus. The new and supposedly undefeated Sorcerer Supreme." said Circe dismissively. "He doesn't seem like much to me."<p>

Morwen looked at her with derision and anger as they walked into Selene's study. "That's because you're an idiot that always dismissed men as inferior despite overwhelming proof to the contrary." Morwen voice took on a mocking tone. "Wasn't that the reason you lost your island kingdom to men, Circe?"

Circe turned to Morwen with rage in her eyes. "That only happened because that imposter woman revealed my island's location by losing to that damn Odysseus. If I had been the one to meet him he would have been dead before he ever returned to his kingdom or at the very least, turned to the animal he was."

Morwen sneered at her. "More like you underestimated men like always and paid the price! And you're doing the same now! I saw that weak man as you call him, cut through an entire legion of enemy troops with naught but his sword and magic like a hot knife through warm butter! He then went on to single-handedly kill the strongest sorcerer in the entire Sassanid Empire and made it look easy!"

Circe waved her off as she lounged on a comfortable chair. "Yes, yes. I'm sure he did. And I'm guessing those rumors of him being a ghost that couldn't be touched and capable of releasing flames that could turn an entire city to ash are true too." Circe snorted and brought a cup of wine to her lips as she gave Morwen a pitying look. "Is the big, bad Sorceress of Chaos afraid?"

Morwen slapped the wine out of her hand and glared down at her. "I am Morwen! I mastered the Darkhold and defeated Chthon himself, allowing me to use chaos magic on his level when I was naught but two decades old! I have been alive since Salome was made Sorceress Supreme and once she fell, made this entire world my own by destroying the paths between us and those immortal beings and therefore isolating this world from the Vishanti. I am NOT afraid of some boy, merely wary of his power. Know your place, Animal Witch."

Circe stood up and glared at Morwen with hate in her eyes. "I know my place and it's above you, you flat-chested Chaos Whore!"

Before things could get physical, Selene intervened. "Enough!" Instantly, Circe and Morwen backed down, not due to Selene being more powerful but because this was her house and therefore the wards obeyed her will. They didn't want to risk a confrontation with her in her own home.

Selene glared at them both as if scolding children and considering that she was millennia older than either, they technically were compared to her. "Despite what you may think, we are not here to discuss whether or not he is a threat. The fact that we are gathered here should be proof enough that he is so saying anything else is pure bluster on both your parts. No, we are here to see if he can be swayed to follow us and if not, whether we can do away with him before he reestablishes the paths between this world and the Vishanti." She turned to Morwen with a calculating look. "You say you saw him in action. Is it true what they say about his power and skill in battle?"

Morwen hesitantly nodded. "If anything, they underestimate his strength. I was there for the defeat near Callinicum. His legion had been cut off from the rest and it seemed they would be killed to the man. However, he took control of the legion from the 1st centurion of the entire legion and managed to somehow turn the tide enough to not only survive to rejoin the rest of the retreating army but do it while making a fighting retreat rather than a rout. He also single-handedly killed 25 skilled sorcerers who had been sent to kill him personally all at once." Morwen couldn't help but shudder as she remembered the fear she felt when she saw him seemingly run through a combined blast of hellfire from 15 sorcerers without a scratch and return the favor with a much more powerful blast of white flames. "He is certainly deserving of his position and I doubt any attempt to kill him for his position would work."

Selene turned to Circe. "And politically?"

Circe grimaced. "At first, he only survived due to his position and power but within a year he had managed to gain the allegiance of half the council through blackmail, threats or doing favors for them. The other half simply feared him too much to make a move against him. I thought that his leaving for war would be the perfect chance to strike and destroy his support and it worked... for a time. As soon as reports started coming in of his accomplishments during the war, his support in the council cemented and those that were simply wary of him before now outright feared him. No," Circe sneered but shook his head. "There is no way to destroy him politically."

Selene sat back and took in their words before deciding on a course of action. "Then if politics and force won't work, we'll have to work through subterfuge. For now, we see if we can make him an ally. However, it won't be long before those fools on the council tell him about us. If he isn't a firm ally in a month then we'll have to be rid of him." She turned to Morwen. "Morwen, what happened to the plan to steal his blade?"

Morwen shook her head with remembered shock. "It failed. The man managed to get his hand on the sword only to dissolve into nothingness until not even ash remained. Whatever that sword is, it's beyond even the most powerful sword ever made. I doubt even the legendary Balmung could match it."

Selene nodded thoughtfully as she started making plans. "Alright, girls. We've decided to join together and work as a team. Any disagreements between us have to be buried until we've neutralized the threat Sladian poses one way or the other. Between the three of us we've ruled over the magical world from the shadows for over 13,000 years. Ever since that ugly bitch Salome lost her position, idiot that she was, thinking herself a goddess. I won't allow some upstart to come along and take it from us. Since we can't kill him magically or politically, we use... other methods of attack to find his weakness."

Circe cocked an eyebrow at her. "Other methods? What methods are those?"

Selene smiled at her, knowing she would hate this. "Why, isn't it obvious? We're all beautiful, single roman women alone in this cruel city. A strong veteran soldier and gladiator will be able to easily protect us from the cruel machinations of the magical council."

Circe glared at Selene as her ire grew. "Oh, no. I am not debasing myself to act like that man's fuck toy. I am superior to any man!"

Morwen looked equally vivid. "You want me, the Sorceress of Chaos to lower myself to bedding that... boy?!"

"Yes," answered Selene simply. "Because if you don't find a way to secure his allegiance or at the very least get close enough to find his weakness, he will eventually grow powerful enough that the council will no longer fear us and they'll rat us out. He'll then come and destroy us unless... he has a reason to stay his hand. Such as him loving us or at least one of us."

Morwen sneered at her words. "Do you really think the simple fact that we share his bed will stop him from destroying us if the council betrays us?"

Selene simply smiled at the millennia old Chaos witch. "You have rarely shared a bed with a man, Morwen, so you don't know one simple fact. Every great man's weakness lies in his cock."

Circe huffed at her. "You would know all about that wouldn't you Selene?"

Selene's eyes flashed at her insult but she simply smiled. "Thank for volunteering to be the first to bed him, Circe. I expect you to have shared his bed by the morning after the party in a few days."

Circe glared but conceded once she saw Morwen wouldn't support her. The fact of the matter was that it made sense for her to be the one to seduce him first since she had already come across as easy. He would suspect something less than if Selene or, God forbid, Morwen made the first move. The latter probably wouldn't even know what to do at all and would require all of Circe's help. In the millennia since she lost her island nation, Circe had been forced to play many roles in order to manipulate things to her interest. While she still believed men to be the inferior sex and little more than evolved monkeys, she no longer refrained from sharing a bed with one. Now sex was just another weapon in her arsenal and one she was quite experienced in using it against all kinds of men.

At the memory of her previous conquests, a wicked idea came to Circe's mind and she smiled evilly across at Selene. "Instead of risking ourselves on the tenuous and unsure fact that he might not turn on us if we bed him. Why not use his hormones against him?"

Selene's eyes narrowed at her in thought. "Go on."

Circe sat back, crossing one leg over the other, showing her leg off to the world. "Have you ever heard of the Betrayer's Death ritual? It was made by magical women millennia ago to help them get revenge on unfaithful husbands or lovers. The idea was to prove that a man was unfaithful by having him be present with both the wife and the supposed lover he was unfaithful with before a high priest and priestess. The high priest and priestess then perform a ritual to see if he had been unfaithful to the wife with the other woman. If proven guilty, the wife can then demand anything she can from the man in recompense, even his death."

Selene cocked an eyebrow at her in confusion. "And what does that have to do with our problem? We are hardly going to wait years for one of us to marry him and then have another of us seduce him. That would take much too long and the council would probably turn on us long before any of us got to walk down the aisle."

Circe just smiled conspiratorially. "You forget that in the olden days, the ceremonies for marriage were much simpler. For example, the oldest known form of marriage only involved the male ingesting the blood of the female followed by copulation."

Morwen looked faintly disgusted and annoyed. "That is fairly disgusting. And anyway, even if we wanted to use that as a form of marriage, how would we get him to think sucking the blood of one you two is in any way normal?" At their questioning looks, Morwen glared at them. "I am not going to be one of ones to either bed him or marry him. I'll oversee the ritual as the high priestess. Neither of you know how to properly conduct it anyway so it might as well be me."

Circe cocked an eyebrow at her. "Then who will be the high priest then?"

Selene looked thoughtful for a second before nodding. "Herpo should be coming to Constantinople in a few days. He is old enough to qualify as a high priest and he owes us a favor. Either way he will want Sladian dead. The risk of him finding out about his horcrux and killing him is too high for him to risk."

Circe shrugged. "Fine. Then I should be the one he cheats on Selene with. It would be less suspicious since he already thinks of me as easy and Selene would be able to gain his affections easier than I would for that very reason."

Selene looked at Circe with confusion in her eyes. "Why would gaining his affections be in any way important? All I have to do it prick my finger on a rose, being the courteous man he is he'd probably suck it to prevent infection, then bed him once and we'd be married. Then you seduce to your bed a few days later and we do the ritual the night afterwards."

Circe frowned. "It's not that simple. First, we have no assurance that the exchange of blood plus copulation will be accepted as a wedding ceremony. Secondly, an emotional connection on his part is necessary. He must think of you as more than just a single one-night bedding for the ritual to work properly. Third, he must be present at the ritual altar for it to work. That means one of us has to kidnap him and bring him before the altar. That would be much easier if he trusted one of us to get close enough, say... like a close lover and friend."

Morwen scowled. "Seems onerous and bothersome for just one man. Why can't Selene simply stab him in the back while they're fucking?"

Selene frowned slightly at Morwen's vulgarity. "Because that whore Medea already tried that route while he was out there in the battlefield. It was thought that since he would be so stressed from constant battle that he would be easy to seduce and kill during the act. By all accounts, she succeeded in seducing him to her bed with her innocent, coy act but the next morning our scouts found her dead in her tent by her own dagger in her chest."

Circe scowled. She had been the one to train Medea millennia ago and Medea had been one of the last living people from Circe's time. Circe had saved her from been killed by King Aegeus who had been displeased when he found Medea trying to kill his long-lost son Theseus. Circe used that and Jason's betrayal of her as proof that men were little more than animals and had taken Medea under her wing. She had worked for Circe since then until Sladian, it seemed, managed to kill her.

"Yes and Medea was a master at getting men to lower their guard while in the bedroom with her," said Circe spitefully. While she may have trained her and had her work under her, there had been no love lost between them. Medea had tried to betray and kill Circe herself many times after her apprenticeship was over and only stayed in contact with Circe because she was stronger politically. "If she failed then none of us stand a chance. He seems to never let his guard down even for a second."

Selene nodded slowly. "Then it's decided. I will marry him using the old way Circe described and then convince him to bed Circe soon afterward. It shouldn't be that hard to convince him, he is male after all. Then I'll spend the time between then and the ritual to get him to fall in love with me. Is there any specific date for the ritual?"

Circe frowned and nodded. "It can be done during any full moon but since Morwen and Herpo are going to be acting as high priest and priestess it's best to do it under the lunar eclipse which is in two months. For the marriage ceremony, we have to pull out all the stops to make it seem like a marriage without him knowing. He has to greet you with a kiss in the cheek at the very least, you have to wear royal blue and silver which are the oldest colors associated with marriage, and the rose that pricks you must be a white rose. Luckily, we have plenty of white roses in the garden and you can use the fact that you need to buy a dress in those colors as an excuse to meet him tomorrow. We'll also move the party for next week during the diadem moon. That moon had always been a sign for Juno, goddess of marriage, and anything helping us is a good thing. You can inform him tomorrow. I imagine he'll be in the market buying clothes and furniture for his house."

Selene nodded thoughtfully and smirked. "Then we have a plan then. We should each get ready for each of our parts. That means that Morwen need to learn how to perform the ritual as well as buy the ingredients and materials necessary."

Morwen shrugged and followed Circe out of the study to learn how to perform the ritual.

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><p>Selene was left alone to think in her study. She thought of all possible angles and possibilities where this could go wrong but decided there was no other way to secure their position. Strong as they were, they couldn't survive if the entire roman magical council rose against them with Sladian at their side. They'd be killed and Selene refused to be killed until she achieved her destiny and rose to godhood.<p>

Selene's mother had been young when she bore her, but she would be dead before Selene spoke her first words. The tribal elders had believed her to be a goddess even from within her mother's womb and in order to prove it, gave her very own mother to her to be the first victim to her powers. Selene had been barely an hour old before the tribal elders induced her powers early and forced her to feed on her own mother. As she grew up, the tribal elders ordered her mother's people to sacrifice themselves to her until none remained. In the end, they sacrificed even themselves before she was even 5 years old, leaving her nothing but sustenance and her name.

Selene understood then that they must be right and she was a goddess. She simply needed enough energy to ascend to her rightful place.

Selene had long been trying to achieve her rightful godhood through the ritual known as Darkhallow. It was an ancient ritual written in the Darkhold which Selene had read while it was in her possession before she gave it to Morwen. The original rite is performed by creating a void that draws in all life, among other energies, within about an area of a couple miles. The Darkhold says that it is considered important that the one performing the rite attempts to summon as many spirits as possible in the immediate area in order to gain a greater level of power.

However, Selene circumvented that by absorbing the minds and life force of at least a hundred beings right before the ritual is performed. In this way, she is demonstrating her power by holding their spirits within herself. That plus the life energies drawn to her by the ritual would help her ascend to godhood.

Selene added many things to the ritual over the millennia to increase the chances of it working, from doing it only on Halloween where the line between mortal flesh and immortal spirit can be briefly crossed, to doing it only on Halloweens that occurred concurrently with the lunar eclipse, to adding more area and therefore, souls to the amount being sacrificed. She had also created a dagger for the ritual that would enhance the magic in the blood spilled to make the runes and would finish the ritual without a lengthy incantation by simply using the dagger to kill the one the blood belonged to.

The closest she had been to ascending was 400 years ago when she ensnared a foolish Senator named Eliphas into giving his blood for the ritual in return for her. As if she would have followed through with her side of the bargain. Everything had been set for a decade beforehand and she thought nothing could prevent her ascension.

However, the fool had gotten compassionate and warned a stupid slave girl he liked who then went on to warn her father. The father had warned the authorities and they had been caught before the ritual could take place. It had only been luck that she woke up before the fires started to burn her and she used her Pyrokinesis to survive. She had punished the foolish Eliphas by turning him into a psychic vampire much like herself and those idiots of the White Court and then burying him to lie alone forever. He would be unable to die unless Selene herself killed him.

However, that had taught her that she couldn't trust just anyone to do the ritual. While she needed someone foolish enough to do as she said, she couldn't leave it to chance. She need to mold someone into the perfect puppet to obey her commands without question. An onerous task but she had plans in place to make it happen.

Proof that the ritual worked could be seen in both Morwen and Circe. While not full goddesses due to not having used enough souls to completely ascend, they were essentially immortal and eternally youthful unless killed in battle. Their power had increased exponentially and they gained various attributes related to gods such as enhanced strength and stamina as well as having no need to ingest food.

Morwen's rise had been by using a small village of about three thousand souls for the ritual. She had absorbed their power and become powerful enough to master the Darkhold without being possessed by Chthon as well as close the paths between Earth and the immortal beings as long as she lived.

Circe had used the Trojan War and sacrificed the entire population of 6,000 souls that still pillaging and raping women in Troy after the Greeks left. She had become essentially immortal as well as eternally youthful while her powers increased even further. She could now transform anything into anything else with a gesture alone and gained the ability to raise the dead without a ritual. She also gained the ability to manipulate reality to a slight extent using her spells.

Even with all that, Selene was still their magical equal due to millennia more experience and her mutant abilities. She couldn't wait to see how much her power would grow once she ascended to full godhood. Maybe she would gain the power to raise the dead and finally meet her mother...

Selene shook her head and turned her thoughts to Sladian. Selene internally shivered as she remembered the feel of his lips in her hand.

As a psychic vampire of the highest order, Selene could gauge the life force of another through simple touch alone. She did so instinctively every time she touched someone. When Sladian touched her with his lips, she had gauged his life force and was simultaneously shocked and aroused.

Most people's life force was like air, ethereal and hard to grasp as well as not being very dense. Sladian's however was vastly different compared to the mountain air that was everyone else's. It was seemly split in five aspects. His life force was a raging inferno, a heavenly light, a calm spring, a forbidding shadow and the last was a perpetual void. Sladian radiated energy like a miniature sun and Selene doubted she could absorb his life force even if she tried. It felt denser than even a thousand million life forces combined and much more powerful. But when she looked deeper Selene saw a second life force sealed and chained inside Slade. It radiated energy too, but unlike Slade this one's scared her. It was filled with malice, chaos and such darkness that it could rival even surpass the even Lucifer would pale in comparsion.

Selene wondered if this was why he was so powerful or why did he have a second life force, but she shook it off as irrelevant and walked toward her room to retire.

As she drifted off to sleep, the last thing she thought of was Sladian's deep golden eyes that seemed to look into her soul and still find her beautiful.

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><p><strong>AN: Chapter 11 done. The poll is still on, so vote for your three favorites. **

**The current poll is:**

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**As always read & review.**


	13. Chapter 12:PC Part 2: Marriage of Change

Chapter 12: Past Catastrophes Part 2: An Marriage of Change

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. All other concepts and ideas from other books or stories belong to their respective authors. No copyright infringement is intended.<strong>

**Warning: Lemon in chapter.**

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><p><strong>Constantinople Marketplace, late 531 A.D.<strong>

Sladian walked through the stalls of the marketplace looking for clothing as well as anything to spruce up his new household. He wanted to liven up his house but unfortunately was, as Wanda used to say, born a man so had no sense for what would look good. 'Maybe he should ask Selene for her opinion,' thought Sladian. Shaking that weird thought off, Sladian stopped by a furniture store in order to buy what he needed for his study at the very least. After telling the man his address and telling him to send it to his residence in about two hours, Sladian left to finish his last piece of business.

Sladian was looking to see if there were any books relating to the Second Miracle in the magical bookstores. Sladian had purposefully let people witness his ability with the Second Miracle in hopes that word would get back to Zelretch and he would confront him. However, if word of his abilities have reached Zelretch's ears, he seemed content in leaving Sladian alone. It annoyed him and he couldn't help but wonder if he knew he was from another time and didn't want to meet Sladian for that very reason.

Sladian still hadn't given up on finding a way to get back to his time. From what he had gathered over the years, the dimensional pathways between patrons and their sorcerers were being blocked by some sort of powerful spell. Sladian had no idea who was powerful enough to cast a spell of that magnitude but he doubted it was for any benevolent purpose. Either way, this spell was also what stopped him from being able to travel to Ulthane's dimension. Sure, one could enter this era but one couldn't exit.

It was an ingenious trap in a way. Any deity that tried to come down to fix the problem would be cut off from their dimension which was their source of power. This would make much weaker than they usually even when compared to how their power normally lowered when they traveled to Earth. They would be weak enough for a powerful sorcerer, such as the one who cast the spell, to kill.

It seemed to only get worse as time passed. If Slade had landed when the spell was first cast he could have maybe forced his way through and gone back home. Unfortunately, it was just his luck that he arrived when the spell was at its strongest and from what Slade had felt it was only getting stronger. In the beginning, the gods could come down and go back with effort and be much weaker but still capable. This was because most of the spell's power was directed to keeping the Vishanti out of this dimension and ignored the other god's presence. In the last millennia, however, they had been completely unable of even that due to the spell (and Sladian imagined the caster as well) growing in strength until soon they would be unable to affect Earth even indirectly.

Sladian couldn't return to his time because in order to travel through time, one has to temporarily leave one's own dimension into one outside of time and then 'jump' back in at the target timeline. But since he couldn't leave this dimension or even planet due to the spell, he was stuck here until the spell was undone.

After realizing this, Sladian theorized there were only two ways of getting back to his time. Either he could find and kill the source of the spell therefore breaking it or find a loophole around the spell itself. The latter had been what he had been trying for the past four years without much success. The spell seemed to be almost sentient and adapted to whatever Sladian did in order to become even stronger. This told Sladian that the one who cast the spell was still alive since if they weren't, the spell wouldn't be able to draw on the extra energy to do that. Since option two was out that left option one which was kill the source of the spell.

However, Sladian had no clue as to who had cast the spell and anyone he asked didn't know anything either. Whoever it was had to be at least 13,000 years old at the very least since records indicated this happened around that time. It was about 100 years after Salome lost her position as Sorcerer Supreme when sorcerers first lost their connection with their non-godly patrons. Sladian had no idea of who could live that long since it was never mentioned in any history book back in his own time but he was keeping his ears open just in case.

Until then, he would continue his studies in the Second Miracle if only to polish his already considerable skills in that area. He couldn't travel through time but he could still manipulate it in a certain area, and he could still manipulate space freely.

Sladian stepped into what looked like a normal bookstore to anyone else but was really one of the seediest dark arts store in Constantinople. The owner of the shop was a small, rat-like man with graying brown hair, brown eyes and a pale complexion named Bassus. Most of the time, he walked around slightly hunched over and spoke in a squeaky voice that enforced the rat-like air he gave off. Said owner looked up from his work at Sladian's entrance with a smile on his face. The smile turned from false to sincere when he caught sight of Sladian and greed started shining in his eyes.

"Centurion Invictus. What an honor to have such a distinguished legionary in my shop. Are you here for some clothing perhaps?" asked Bassus in his squeaky voice.

Sladian forced a smile on his face before speaking in Ancient Sumerian with an obvious accent. "Yes, I wish to buy some of your special clothing in the back?" Like all things, there were certain ways to tell the proprietor of the shop what you wanted without saying it out loud. The phrase he just uttered was the standard confirmation that you were, indeed, a customer for the magical arts section. The Ancient Sumerian, however, told him that you were looking for old, dark and/or obscure books that would get both of them killed for possessing much less studying.

Bassus froze at his speaking Ancient Sumerian and a greedy smile crossed his face before leading him to the back once he checked that there was no one else around. Sladian followed Bassus as he passed a hand over a painting of the Mediterranean ocean, causing it to shimmer and turn into a doorway. Sladian was quickly ushered in so they wouldn't be caught.

The doorway was a portal much like the one back home in the Sanctum Sanctorum. It instantly took him to a warehouse hidden somewhere in the world where he could browse to his heart's content. The books had powerful spells on them to prevent one from reading them until one bought it but one could still look through the titles to find what one was looking for without someone holding your hand.

Bassus left through the same door he entered, leaving Sladian alone. It was a show of trust on Bassus' part and one that Sladian treasured.

It was Bassus who taught him that just because someone used dark magic, that did not make them an evil person. Just like a person who solely uses light magic does not make them good. Sladian had seen many supposed light magicals on the council order or condone the deaths of thousands for their own good while he had seen supposed 'dark' magicals sacrifice their lives to defend a village full of women and children. In the end, the only difference between light and dark magic was that dark magic corrupted. However, a strong will could resist the corruption or at least make the effects less pronounced.

For that very reason, Sladian felt no compunction in walking straight to the ancient and forbidden arts section in search of any new books on the Second Miracle since he left for war. He had looked for them before he left but found precious little on the subject. He had hopes that the intervening two years meant that Bassus had gotten his hands on books on the subject.

Of course, when Sladian said 'books' he meant it in the loosest definition of the term. Very little 'books' were made in a codex-like fashion which was similar to the books of his own time. They were actually leaves of a uniform size bound in some manner along one edge, and typically held between two covers made of some more robust material.

However, this was rare and most 'books' were in the form of scrolls on parchment. It had taken a long time for Sladian to get used to using a quill pen and parchment. It had been endlessly frustrating.

Sladian placed a hand along the edges of the books and scrolls, feeling the magic rolling off them in waves. He would be lying if he said it didn't feel intoxicating. The dark magic locked in these books have great power, the ancient and forbidden arts always did, but they also corrupted, tempting the user to use them more often which it worse. People believe that the dark arts make the person evil due to the fact that many past users were always hateful and malicious beings. However, that is only a half truth.

True, dark magic does tend to lead people done dark paths but only because most dark magics require powerful negative emotion to cast. Since the magic tempts them to use it more often, the person uses negative emotions more and more as time passes. It became an endless cycle since the more a person uses dark magic, the more tempted he is to use it again and the more time he spends feeling hate, lust, anger and other negative emotions. Despite all that power, sorcerers are only human and after years of feeling only negative emotions to power their spells they become cruel and hateful people even when not using magic. This was what started the rumors of dark magic turning people evil.

For this reason, Sladian understood that using dark magic doesn't automatically make one evil, it's just similar to a drug. It becomes addictive to use again and since the 'currency' to use it is negative emotion, the wielder must feel them more and more often, leading to a dark place. Sladian didn't use dark magic regularly for this very reason. He had enough nightmares from the battles to not need to be angry all the time just to use dark magic. He used a few dark spells but only rarely and in select circumstances. The one exception was hellfire.

Sladian briefly looked down at the rune schemes at the back of his hands as he remembered banishing that Flame Atronach all those years ago.

He had found out the side effect of banishing the fire atronach about four months into his training with Ulthane. It partly activated his demonic side allowing him to wield hellfire with ease similar to a fallen angel. This was because Flame Atronachs were born from hellfire itself given some form of semi-sentience. It was for this reason they were so easy to control. The sentience they demonstrated was similar to a wand-wizard's Fiendfyre, always trying to burn everything around it, which was easy to overpower for any competent summoner. It actually surprised Sladian that Fiendfyre was considered so hard to control for wand-wizards in his time when Sladian could use hellfire, which was much harder to control, so easily.

Of course, this was due to Ulthane's crazy idea when he found out about it.

Ulthane explained that hellfire had a tendency to lower the inhibitions of the person as time passed. In order to counteract this, Ulthane had injected him with the ability to wield soulfire as well. It was a risky gamble because the abilities were diametrically opposed and by all accounts, should probably have caused his body to explode.

However, his body had instead partly awakened his angelic side, therefore adapting to both abilities and counteracted each other's negative aspects. Ulthane theorized that as the years passed, Sladian would absorb the abilities of both types and probably create a whole new one out of the mix. Sladian had wondered what the new fire would be capable of doing but had ignored it at the time.

Now, however, Sladian felt that the abilities were close to merging together. In the meantime, Sladian could still use the abilities separately. However, he rarely used them except for hellfire which helped extend his stamina when in long, drawn-out battles. The downside was that when he actively used it, his inhibitions lowered and he became less merciful to his enemies. It also had the side effect of making him sort of... horny.

Sladian couldn't help but blush in embarrassment as he remembered the first time he used hellfire in a battle. It was against a sorcerer that wanted to kill him for his position and was too strong to simply subdue into compliance so he was forced to kill him. Afterwards, he had stopped in a village in Gaul and been so turned on that he had seduced a red-headed girl two years older than him and spent the entire night thoroughly taking her virginity in every aspect. The poor girl had been so besotted afterwards that she tried to follow after him like a lovesick puppy. Only the stern hand of her mother stopped her from doing so as well as Sladian leaving them enough gold for them and their descendants to live comfortably for the rest of their lives. He really hoped the two Griffin women would listen to his advice and move to Britain to escape in coming war.

Getting back on topic, it was for this reason that Sladian was also looking for books on hellfire and soulfire. These books on the former were more common than one would think due to the fact that the Fallen had started taking hosts about 5 centuries ago. The hosts would write down their observations on the usage of hellfire and how to use it. The journals would then either get lost and found by sorcerers later on or the hosts would sell them to sorcerers for coin. It didn't matter to the hosts because normally no one but a Fallen host could use hellfire so the notes were useless to sorcerers beyond theoretical study. It wasn't until late in the 6th century when Nicodemus, leader of the Fallen, would attempt to destroy all records for the first time. No one knew why he did it just that he did. Although it may have to do with the fact that wand-wizards managed to create Fiendfyre based off notes of using hellfire.

Go figure.

Sladian had picked two new scrolls which were journals by recent hosts of Fallen on hellfire usage as well as a theoretical journal by a high-ranking sorcerer on the difference between soulfire and hellfire, when he stopped at a book that seemed to call out to him. The book was bound in the codex form with the covers being a dark red color. What drew Slade's eye was the drawing of a kaleidoscope along its edge.

Sladian drew it out of the shelf and read the title in curiosity.

The Second Miracle and Time Travel for dummies by Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg.

Sladian's left eye twitched slightly and he took a deep breath to calm his anger. He tried to think on the positive side in that he finally had a book that could answer his problems and he could get back home. The fact that the title was named this could be a coincidence and he had no proof that it was a jab at him. After all, it's not like he knew Sladian was here the entire time. Sladian opened it and started to read the first few lines.

'The first thing one should know when using the Second Miracle to travel through time and space is to always have both the time and destination firmly in mind. If not, one could easily end up somewhere else. If one can't focus on both, then focus on the correct timeline first. After all, only a complete and total idiot would focus on the destination and not the time, therefore risking getting lost in time and showing up in a unclear clearing on the other side of the civilized world...'

Sladian's left eye twitched violently as he gritted his teeth in anger. 'That's it! I'm gonna kill him! I'm gonna rip out his genital and feed them to him! The bastard knew I was lost in time and left me alone for years! I'm gonna cut out his eyes with a rusty knife! I'm gonna get a spiked mace and shove it up his ass! I'm gonna...'

Sladian was so wrapped up in his thoughts of maiming and murdering one of the leading members of the Mage's Association that he missed two seductive chocolate colored orbs staring at him from the shadows. Someone clearing their throat behind him caused Sladian to quickly turn around prepared to fight only to pause when he caught sight of a familiar face.

Selene walked out of the shadows between the bookshelves with an amused look in her eye. She was currently wearing a black cloak that covered most of her body except for her face due to having the hood down. Somehow she managed to make herself look beautiful even with the cloak covering most of her body, something Sladian didn't think was possible until now.

Selene was looking from the codex in Sladian's hands to his face with an amused look on her face. "Should I leave you two alone? You look like you are seconds away from torching that book."

Sladian couldn't help but blush slightly at being caught and shook his head. "No, sorry. I was just... displeased at contents of the codex."

Selene still looked slightly amused but nodded anyway. "If you say so. What are you searching for anyway?"

Sladian smiled even as he discreetly turned the side with the title of the codex away from her line of sight. "Oh, just some books theorizing on fire. I'm quite good at fire spells and the like."

Selene's left eyebrow rose at that and she read the titles of the scrolls on hellfire. "Hellfire? You an Accursed Host, Sladian?"

Sladian rolled his eyes and shook his head. "No. I simply like to read theories on hellfire to see if I could apply it to my own abilities with fire." 'And to master my own abilities with hellfire of course.'

Selene looked interested and walked closer to look over the scrolls. "Is it possible to apply their mechanics to other fire spells? And if so, how?" At Sladian's questioning look, she gave him a cheeky smile. "I'm more than a pretty face, you know."

Sladian smiled as he started to explain theories on the relationship between hellfire and normal magical fire and ways to apply the former's mechanics to the latter. They were so wrapped up in their discussion that he didn't even notice when they left the warehouse and into the shop proper until Bassus cleared his throat to get their attention.

Sladian gave him an apologizing smile and paid for the scrolls and codex. It was a hefty 500 gold pieces but well worth it in Sladian's opinion.

Sladian was surprised he didn't notice the three scrolls Selene had been carrying as she paid for them, as well as leaving a generous tip for Bassus.

"Many thanks, Lady Selene, and come again."

Selene gave him a soft smile and nodded. "Of course, Bassus. Take care."

Selene and Sladian walked out of the shop after hiding their purchases in their respective hiding places and walked down the street of the marketplace.

Selene and Sladian made polite conversation as she accompanied him as he bought decorations for his new home. They talked about the new laws that were passed and those that were rejected and the reasons for both. As they did this, Sladian bought paintings and sculptures, at times on Selene's recommendation. She had a keen eye for beauty and Sladian couldn't help but think it was because she was the ultimate example of it.

Despite this, Sladian made sure to not mention anything that would hint as to either the extent of his abilities or his origins. There were many times when Selene tried to subtly inquire as to where he came from but he simply responded with his rehearsed story of being a Celt who was visiting a village close to where he found the previous Sorcerer Supreme dying. It helped that there actually was a village near there at the time but it was recently destroyed in a Nordic raid. There was no way to confirm Sladian's story one way or another.

The duo finished their purchases and where walking back to Selene's home when Selene turned to Sladian with a nonchalant look on her face. "By the way, we've changed the date of the party. It'll be next week. Some of the ones who were coming are late and will take longer in arriving. Therefore, we moved it to later. I hope you'll come for my sake at the very least."

Sladian tried to detect any hidden intentions behind her invitation but she was either a master at hiding her true emotions or she truly had no secondary intentions. He suspected the former since this is the second time she'd invited him even though they didn't know each other but had no proof so he couldn't prove it. Either way, he wasn't very interested beyond the normal hormonal need to see the three beauties in more casual clothing and that wasn't a very good reason in his book.

Sladian gave a noncommittal shrug. "Maybe. I don't feel comfortable in going to a party between close friends thought. Especially since I'll barely know anyone there."

Selene nodded her understanding. "You don't have to go if you don't want to. I only invited you because I wished to get to know a man that doesn't stare at me all the time as if he was wishing to undress me. It is an interesting change of pace and I find myself intrigues by it."

Sladian had to admit that that would be annoying after a while. He didn't think he would like it if every time he entered a room he would be looked at like a piece of meat. Although, to be fair, the only reason Sladian himself wasn't doing something similar was because he was more paranoid than should probably be healthy.

Sladian nodded his acquiescence. "Then I shall endeavor to become your friend in these coming days so that I would be worthy of attendance."

Selene seemed surprised at his words but quickly smiled in a way that reached her eyes, showing she was truly pleased at his words. "I hope so as well." With that, Selene left Sladian in front of her house as she entered, Sladian not even having noticed they had reached it already.

Sladian smiled slightly and walked back to his house to await for the servants who would bring his purchases.

* * *

><p>Sladian slowly rode his black stallion, which he had named Catastros, across the grassy fields outside of the Constantinople walls with his leather armor in a bag behind him while wearing the normal red tunic that went under a legionary's armor.<p>

Sladian didn't want to become soft now that he was no longer fighting for his life every day and so had quickly decided to spend most of the morning training to keep in shape. He would spend the afternoon either in council meetings or studying the scrolls and codex in order to see if he could find a way back home.

As he slowly led Catastros in search of an appropriate clearing to train, his mind went over his promise to Selene.

Why did he promise to become her friend when his plan until now was to gain enough influence to be able to buy ancient scrolls on the Second Miracle in the hopes to return home? He had purposefully remained aloof in order not to make any friends so that it would be that much easier to return without regrets. Sure, he was friendly with his cohort as well as most of the shopkeepers but he didn't have any true friends in this place. Now he went and promised to become Selene's for no tangible reason he could think of.

For some reason, Selene intrigued him. Not for her beauty but for the way she was. Most women in this time were either adulterous women trying to climb the social ladder, submissive to the men in their lives or bitter harpies who lash out at everyone around them. Selene's friend Circe easily fell into the first group. Sladian could easily see the lust and greed in her eyes when she looked at him, although a part of him had to admit that she had the body to almost be worth it. Morwen on the other hand, fell into the last category, as seen by her stoic demeanor and the barely polite way she greeted him.

Selene, however, was an enigma. At first she came across as one of those women used to using her beauty and looks to manipulate men to do her will. However, Sladian had gotten very good at seeing behinds the masks people put up and saw flashes of the real her behind the mask. She truly hated it when men looked at her like a sex object and a part of her had true respect for him for treating like an equal. There was also the way she walked.

Circe walked with a seductive grace of a sexual predator sure in her beauty and magical power. From what Sladian had seen, both physically and magically, she had good reason to be confident in both. While she may not be the mythological sorceress of legend, she was powerful enough to be her equal. Her physical beauty was also nothing to scoff at and Sladian would be lying if he said he wouldn't mind spending a night or two between her legs.

Morwen, on the other hand, walked in almost military manner with none of the grace most warriors had. Her steps were sure and methodical and spoke of a person that planned everything and became panicked when faced with a situation she hadn't anticipated or planned for. The old Slade part of him couldn't help but think that she reminded him a little of the tsundere in his manga. However, the Sladian part of him pointed out she probably didn't have a soft side at all.

Selene, on the other hand, walked with a very familiar grace. The grace of a trained warrior. He walked similarly. So did the men under his command and so did most veterans. However, Selene's walk was one similar to a panther's or other giant cats. A sort of prowl that only highlighted her attractiveness.

Then there were her eyes.

Circe's eyes, as he previously stated, shone with lust and greed as well as a carefully hidden cruelty. The old Slade in him could also see a small spark of some goodness in her but it was so small to almost be non-existent. Morwen's eyes just showed indifference for the world around her which stemmed from her arrogance. Sladian could easily see that Morwen firmly believed in her ways and would be completely unwilling to change at all.

Selene's eyes, however, showed a sort of age-old weariness with the world. As if she'd seen too much too quickly and was just looking for an escape. Sladian could see that she had done things that she regretted and still haunted even if she suppressed it. Beneath all of that, Sladian could see a spark of... something in her eyes. A sort of childishness that looked out of place on her mature body and personality. It sort of reminded him of the impish look in Jean's eyes when she was playing a prank.

Sladian instantly felt depressed when he thought of Jean. It has been 4 years since he was trapped here and his love for Jean hadn't lowered a bit. If anything, it deepened until Jean seemed almost like an untouchable figure out of his reach. The fact of the matter was that even if he returned to his time now, he didn't think he was worthy to restart a relationship with Jean.

It wasn't just the difference in physical age, that could easily be overcome, but the emotional age difference. Sladian had done and seen things that would haunt him for his entire life. Jean was too pure, too good to be sullied by his bloody hands. As a wise man once said: 'A warrior can't protect what he loves without a sword in his hand but he also can't hug those he loves with one.'

Jean was too innocent to understand the things he'd done and he wanted to preserve that innocence for as long as possible. The idea of tarnishing that purity and innocence with the truth of what he had done caused him to cringe in shame. Mostly because he knew Jean enough to know it wouldn't matter to her and she would still love him which only made him feel worse.

Sladian shook off those thoughts as he found a clearing where he could train. It was open and even had a small stream flowing through it. The stream was just deep enough to wash yourself in but not quite enough to bath without showing everything to whoever might pass by. Luckily, the clearing was far enough away from the Constantinople walls that no one would stumble upon it unless they knew it was there.

Sladian got off Catastros and started to unbuckle the bag from his back before tying Catastros to a nearby tree. He gave Catastros enough slack to be able to walk around freely but not enough to get close to Sladian while he was training. When he was training, Sladian tended to lose himself in the training and would likely hurt Catastros by mistake. That was one thing that hadn't changed since he first arrived.

Sladian started to take out his leather armor to train when he heard the sound of a horse approaching. On alert in case it was someone who followed out here in order to kill, he was surprised when a familiar face showed up on a white horse looking similarly shocked.

Selene looked surprised at Sladian's presence before putting on a stern and suspicious look. "What are you doing here, Sladian?"

Sladian cocked an eyebrow while casually putting his left hand on Líthi in his sheath. "I could ask you the same thing. I found this clearing just now and I was planning on training. What's a Lady like yourself doing out here all alone?"

Selene studied Sladian for a moment before seemingly coming to the conclusion that Sladian didn't mean anything untoward with the question and was simply curious. "I train myself here as well. I've been using this clearing for years now."

Sladian was skeptical and it must have shown because Selene got off her horse and walked over to the tree Catastros was tied to. Sladian watched as she reached into the large roots of the tree that were above ground and pulled out a bag. Selene opened it and showed him that it had some leather armor and weapons, proving her claim of having been here before.

Selene dropped the bag at her feet and looked at him with a scowl. "Now do you believe a weak woman can train as well?"

Sladian put his hands up in defense. "I never said that and I don't believe that women are weak at all. In fact, I believe you women are the stronger sex. I once watched a woman give childbirth and," Sladian gave a sincere shudder that brought a chuckle from Selene, "you all gained my undying respect that day. I think that that gave me more nightmares than some of the bloodiest battles I've been in."

Selene smirked and winked at him. "As long as you know your place."

Sladian smiled back before starting to put everything back in his bag. "Well, I'll find somewhere else to train and leave you then. I promise not to tell anyone else about this clearing so you can train in peace."

However, Selene spoke before he could finish putting everything away. "How about a spar?" At Sladian's perplexed look, Selene smiled. "It would let us get to know each other better and give me a bit of a workout." Selene's face turned teasing. "That is, of course, if you don't mind getting your ass handed to you by a woman."

Sladian gave her a challenging smile and bowed. "It would be my honor to hand you your ass, Lady Selene."

Selene just laughed and went behind a giant oak to put on her training armor while Sladian did the same behind a tree further away.

As Selene changed into her training armor, she wondered why she was doing this. The cruel, calculating part of her was telling her this would be an excellent chance to see how strong he truly was for later on. However, a deep nearly buried part of her was excited. She had fought many powerful people since she'd been born but never one in such a way. Sorcerers were easily defeated in close combat since they relied on their magic and never trained their bodies. The opposite was true for warriors. They trained their bodies but she just had to use her magic and they were turned to ash. However, Sladian was skilled on both areas, a rarity even her millennia of life. A part of her was excited at the challenge of fighting someone strong who wasn't going to hold back because she was a woman.

Selene stepped out behind the tree and didn't have to wait long before Sladian stepped out from behind his own tree. When he did Selene's heart skipped a beat and she couldn't help the slight blush that came to her cheeks at the sight of him.

Selene was slightly surprised by the style of his training armor. Most training gear for legionaries was a simple tunic and sandals with maybe a few strategically placed pieces of leather armor. Sladian, on the other hand, used a full set of leather armor made in the style of ancient Greek warriors. The chest and shoulder pads were one piece of thick leather made to withstand sword slashes and cuts easily. The stomach was protected by a thinner piece of leather made to allowed flexibility while still offering some protection and had a golden circle as a buckle for the belt with a dragon etched on it. Attached to that was a leather skirt that offered modesty while still allowing for full range of movement. He had thick leather shin armor as well as vambraces for extra protection as well.

Sladian's armor finished off with a metal helmet with spikes that she remembered he wore during his gladiator days (Picture the helmet that Russell Crowe wore in Gladiator). His shield was round and not rectangular like the legionary's scutum with a black dragon with a red background in the middle and four red runes in each cardinal direction along the outer silver circle. The armor was tight to his body and this allowed Selene a perfect view of his sculpted body.

He was, in one word, perfect. Unlike the scrawny bodies of most sorcerers, Sladian's had been toned and shaped by constant battle, both physical and otherwise, and the healthy food he had eaten into this masterpiece of a male specimen. His face had lost all baby fat that some nobles still had at his age and was angled slightly, giving him a mature look. That combined with his golden eyes, gave him the look of someone far older than his 19 years of age. His shoulders and arms were slim, but obviously muscular by the way they flexed as he moved. His chest was hidden by the armor but her millennia of life had made Selene a master of observation and she picked up the subtle clues that told her that his stomach was an eight-pack, probably due to his training regimen and keeping himself in shape from a young age.

It was his legs though, that caught most of Selene's attention, the two extensions of the man before her seemed to be made of steel as his muscles flexed and moved while he shifted from his position, not an ounce of fat having accumulated on them. His back was probably just as sculpted but probably more like his arms than his legs. All in all, Sladian's body seemed perfect for strength and speed. The body of what a king should truly look like.

Sladian was in a similar state as Selene as he took in the sight of her body. Her armor seemed to be made of some form of animal leather which covered her breasts while having an opening down the middle up to her navel, allowing a glimpse of her cleavage. Sladian could now confirm her as being a D-cup if not a DD-cup and could honestly say she had the biggest rack he had ever seen. Her armor was tied behind her neck and also held by some metal shoulder pauldrons. On the bottom, she had a leather skirt but instead of going around like Sladian's, it only covered her directly in front and back, while leaving the sides bare to see her beautiful legs as well as allowing full range of movement. Her legs were even more attractive than he had thought, being toned without a hint overt fat while still having plenty of curves in the right places. She also had leather vambraces that doubled as gloves, allowing Sladian to see that while her shoulders and arms were slim, with not much muscle being overtly shown, there obviously was as shown when she flexed them under the small layer of fat that coated her body.

Sladian took in her helmet with a raised eyebrow. Selene had tied her hair in a braid behind her back before wrapping it around her neck so it couldn't be used against her. Her helmet was a normal leather helmet but it had a quarter moon etched in silver on the crown of the forehead. Sladian then saw that she had a round shield similar to his except it had to half-circle openings on either end of the shield and wondered what they were for before thinking it irrelevant.

All in all, Sladian could see that the armor allowed protection in the necessary places while still useful as a distraction technique on less focused enemies, whether male or female.

Sladian was the first to come to himself and smiled at Selene who also shook herself from her stupor. "So... how should we do this? Magic, no magic? Wooden swords or the real thing?"

Selene smiled as she drew a gladius from the inside of her shield. "Gladius and shield. No magic. Just pure skill. We'll fight till first blood. Unless, of course, you're afraid of getting cut by a woman? I'd understand if you are. God knows you men are so delicate."

Sladian gave her a challenging stare and unbuckled Líthi and placed him against a tree before unsheathing his gladius and getting into a ready stance. "Don't worry. You'll find I'm much less delicate than other men."

Selene smiled and got into her own stance which was shield forward and gladius at the ready.

The two circled each other for a bit as they tried to find any flaws in each other's forms. Selene's was low to the ground, almost like a tiger circling its prey while Sladian's was loose, seemingly defenseless but actually in a position to defend against all angles with barely a moment's notice.

Everything froze for a moment and then the two warriors dashed at each other. Selene attacked with lethal grace, probing Sladian's defenses with her gladius while smashing into his shield with her own. Sladian held his ground and deflected Selene's probes with masterful skill while making his own probes into her defenses. The two warriors stepped back and started to circle each other once more.

The spar continued for over two hours, neither backing down nor giving ground. Selene's style was much like the way she walked, graceful and deadly. Similar to a lion or panther stalking dangerous prey, with lightning fast jabs and slashes while still being quick enough to pull up her shield in time as well as use it as another weapon from time to time. Sladian's style revolved around speed as well, but he was more likely to dodge or deflect an attack than block it.

As the spar continued, Sladian felt a smile slowly cross his face as more of the old Slade resurfaced. He had always enjoyed a good spar against someone as strong if not stronger than him. The last four years has soured that because every fight he'd been in had always been a fight to the death. Now, however, he could fight without fear purely for the joy of fighting. He still had his guard up in case it was a trick but after two hours of back and forth, he was truly enjoying the spar.

Selene was in much the same boat. All her life, she'd been looked down upon for being a woman and because of her great beauty. Men thought that because she was beautiful, she was too delicate for any real work. The only fights she'd ever been in were against either soldiers who didn't know how to take no for an answer or against sorcerers who didn't know their place. Both were easily killed through magic for the former and physical strength for the latter. She had never fought someone with master-level skill in both areas and it was exciting.

Selene suddenly jumped and used the momentum given by gravity and her own considerable strength to impale her gladius toward Sladian's shield.

Sladian was so surprised that he barely blocked it and felt the blow reverberate in his bones from the sheer strength behind the blow. Sladian used the force of the blow to spin on his heels and slash at Selene while she was off-balance but she managed to block it with her gladius in time.

The tempo of the fight slowly changed as both fighters started to use more and more complicated maneuvers in order to win the spar. Both fighters using both shield and sword to attack and defend, neither managing to land a decisive hit. Eventually, Sladian learned what the half-circles on Selene's shield were for.

Sladian stabbed at Selene and rather than block or dodge it, Selene caught in the space between her body and her shield. She then latched onto his wrist and twisted the shield so that his arm was being bent at the wrong angle while stuck inside the half-circle. Sladian gritted his teeth as he held on to his sword and used his shield to block Selene's attacks.

Eventually, Sladian managed to escape the vice grip she had on his wrist and retreat slightly. Sladian threw his shield aside and smirked when Selene did the same, both deciding to rely on their own skill with a sword rather than a shield.

The two fighters clashed once more, this time using speed and skill to dodge slashes and blows instead of a shield. The difference became quickly apparent when Sladian used his superior speed to dodge all of Selene's attacks instead of block them. However, Selene kept her calm and continued to push Sladian back as maneuvered her toward the stream.

They eventually started to fight on the stream's banks, the sound of swords clashing reverberating through the clearing. Neither was willing to give an inch, knowing that the spar was about to end one way or another.

Sladian deflected another of Selene's slashes and tried to stab her when Selene caught his hand in a hold using her left elbow. However, Sladian was ready for this and when Selene tried to use the chance to slash at him with her gladius, and therefore end the fight, Sladian rushed forward and literally tackled her to the ground.

Selene was caught off-guard by the unexpected move and her gladius was thrown out of her hand as she was pushed to the ground with Sladian on top. Sladian's gladius also fell from his hand as they fell and the two wrestled on the floor for a while before simultaneously reaching for their blades.

Both reached their fallen blade at the same time and quickly had their blades at each other's throats.

Selene was panting in exhaustion from the fight as she felt the prick of Sladian's blade on her neck. Despite this, Selene had never been so aroused. The fight had gotten her blood pumping from the sheer exhilaration of fighting someone who was both strong enough to match her despite having millennia of practice and skill and respected her enough not to hold back. Another thing was the fact that he was on top of her made her sense his life-force again and it aroused her to no end. If she could compare it to anything it would be like seeing a lake of crystal clear water in the middle of a desert after walking through it for weeks. She just knew there was no way she could absorb all of it or even a fraction of it even if she fasted for years.

The last but no less important reason for her current arousal was the position they were in. When they fell, Sladian fell on top of her and in between her legs. Needless to say, she could say that he was just as aroused as she was. Feeling the length of his arousal, Selene could honestly say that she never wanted to be ravished in the middle of a clearing like a cheap whore so much in her life. Selene had completely forgotten about her original mission to kill him and dropped her gladius which had been at his neck and started to rub Sladian's sides up and down, causing him to shiver in arousal.

Sladian was in similar straits. He could feel Selene's wetness through the leather trousers beneath his leather skirt armor. He could also say with certainty that Selene did not have similar undergarments under her fur skirt. The sweat from the spar caused Selene's face to glisten much like her eyes were, telling him that she felt just as aroused as did. It took all of Sladian's willpower to stop himself from glancing at her glistening bosom and from the small smile on her lips, Selene obviously knew it. When she stopped rubbing his sides and started to instead grind onto his erection, Sladian almost broke down and ravished her right there and then.

However, just as he was about to break, an image of Jean in a similar position flashed through his mind and he jumped off Selene in shock. He didn't miss the flash of hurt and disappointment that crossed Selene's face before she hid it behind a polite smile.

"Well, I guess it's a draw, huh Sladian?" said Selene in a carefully neutral voice. She stood up and brushed off the dirt on her armor as well as moved it back into place to hide everything important. She used this opportunity to bury the feelings of rejection she felt and what they meant deep inside before smiling back up at Sladian.

Sladian calmed his racing heart and hid his confusion as to why he thought of Jean right at that moment before returning Selene's smile with a strained one of his own. "Yes, it was. I truly enjoyed it. You are, without a doubt, a masterful swordswoman."

Selene gave him a small genuine smile at the compliment. "Thank you. I have trained a long time to gain my skills and it's nice to be appreciated. Now if you don't mind I usually use the stream to bathe myself of sweat before returning and I can't do that with you here."

Trying to hide the effect the image of her bathing in the clearing gave him, Sladian gave her a small bow. "Thank you for the spar, my Lady. I hope to see you again."

Sladian walked toward Catastros and started to untie him from the tree when he heard Selene call out to him.

"Sladian! Perhaps... we should have another spar tomorrow? Just to keep our skills sharp?" Despite her best efforts, her voice shook slightly at the idea that he might turn her down. Selene tried to convince herself that she was only doing this to make him trust her but wasn't completely successful in the attempt.

Sladian perked up at the request and smiled warmly at her. "Sure. We'll meet here tomorrow morning then?"

Selene heart rose and she nodded happily. "Tomorrow morning it'll be then."

* * *

><p><strong>One week and a half later, night of the Diadem Moon; Selene's residence<strong>

Selene fussed over her appearance in the mirror as she waited for Sladian to arrive for the party.

The last week and a half had been one of the best Selene could remember. After their near copulation that first morning in the clearing, Sladian had been a complete gentlemen outside of the sparring arena. This frustrated Selene at times because every spar would end with both of them an inch from screwing like rabbits in the middle of the field before he would step back and change the subject.

When she confronted on him the other day, he said she deserved better than to be taken on the field like a common whore. A part of her was touched by his nobility. Over her millennia of existence she had come to see that most men talk pretty but most would have taken her by force if they had been in a similar position. The fact that Sladian held back because he thought she deserved better and not because he wasn't attracted to her only made him better in her eyes.

However, another part of her was sexually frustrated at his nobility and wanted nothing more than to push him onto the floor and ride him like a horse till they were both satiated. Only the thought of what he'd think of her afterwards stopped her.

Selene paused at that thought and silently chastised herself. She was supposed to be seducing him not the other way around! What was she, some love-sick maiden? She had seduced and strung along hundreds if not thousands of men in her millennia of existence. This should be no different.

'But it is,' said a small voice in the back of Selene's mind. 'It's different because unlike the others he truly cares about you.'

Selene bit her lip as she looked at herself in the mirror. It was true, after all. Despite the fact that she had strung along hundreds of men before, none of them had ever actually cared for her beyond her physical beauty. Did they want her to be safe? Yes, but only because they didn't want to lose their trophy wife that they would show off at parties as they tried to rise up the social ladder. Did they take care of her needs? Yes, she never wanted for sustenance or clothing. In terms of physical needs, they tended to care more for their lusts than her needs and she was often left wanting. All in all, all the men she had seduced never made any emotional connection with her and treated her like one would a particularly well-bred dog. Seen but never heard. This made it easy for her to kill them once their usefulness had run out. In fact, one man specifically she had happily drained when he tried to sell her out to his friends in order to climb the social ladder.

Needless to say, none of the men left alive that day and the case of how the house burned down killing everyone inside was never solved.

Sladian, however, genuinely cared for her opinion. Over the last week and a half Sladian had asked about her past which was something no one had ever asked Selene about beyond whether she came from money or not. She had given a version of the truth, saying she originally came from a poor village in the north and after a disaster that killed most of the people on her village, she moved south until she met a kind man that took her in. That was the truth, more or less. She just didn't mention that this was over 15,000 years ago or that the 'disaster' was her or that the man that took her in tried to rape her when she was fifteen only for her to drain him of his life force in retaliation.

Sladian had shown genuine sorrow at the loss of her mother and that, more than anything, showed Selene that Sladian was much too good for a dark soul like her. Despite this, she continued to see him and they became closer over the week. People gossiped that he was courting her and that the "Black Rose of Constantinople" had finally found a suitor. Selene had laughed herself hoarse when the normally unflappable Sladian had blushed like a schoolboy and tried to deny it only for Selene to confirm it, causing his jaw to drop in shock.

After that, things had taken a much more romantic tone and he had done his best to spoil her. The fact that he never tried to push his boundaries despite many obvious and not so obvious invitations from Selene herself only endeared him to her more. The fact that most of their conversations were debates on the nature of magic and the superiority of one class of magic over another only made it better. The only ones she had ever had that kind of debate with were Circe and Morwen and both women hated to debate. Debates had been the main reason Selene had joined the Senate, even if it was as a stand-in for her dead "father" until she got married. There was something about debating over important issues that sent a thrill down Selene's spine.

Selene shook herself and blushed when she realized she had been daydreaming for over half an hour and after a final check on how she looked, she left to greet her guests in the atrium. They would all gather there until everyone had arrived and then move into the dining room to eat before moving to the exhedra to talk. Before entering the atrium, Selene buried her confusing feelings and put up her cold, calculating mask so that none of the people in the atrium could use her feelings against her.

As Selene entered the atrium, she looked around and saw Circe laughing with an attractive Egyptian woman dressed in a form-fitting white dress with a blue trim and a man dressed in expensive and elegant clothing of the new Byzantine style with a noose around his throat.

The woman was of obvious Egyptian descent with the same nose and facial features of the people. She had brown hair that was loose yet still ordered in a way. She had light brown eyes that flickered with an inner darkness that Selene recognized. The woman had a slim yet still attractive body that unlike her or even Circe, had no hint of muscle anywhere on it. Her voice was melodic with a seductive undertone, the voice of a seductress much like Circe's voice when she was trying to seduce somebody. She projected an amused demeanor which was probably from the fact that the man standing with them would like nothing more than to kill her but couldn't since Constantinople was neutral territory for fallen angels.

The man was of average height and build, with strong and handsome features, and appears to be around 40 at most. He had dark eyes and short dark hair with hints of silver. He speaks with an accent similar to Sladian's and had a mellow, and surprisingly deep voice. The voice of a politician and master manipulator. He seemed to project a calm and vaguely amused demeanor that hid the calculating ruthlessness Selene knew he was capable of.

Selene recognized the woman as the latest host of the fallen angel Lasciel and the man as the so-called 'leader of the Fallen', Nicodemus. Selene raised an eyebrow in question when she caught Circe's eye and Circe excused herself before walking over to Selene.

Circe looked over Selene's royal blue dress with silver accents with approval. "Excellent. That dress is the exact shade associated with marriage in the time this ritual was performed. You look good enough to eat, Selene. Seducing him to bed should be cakewalk for you."

Selene pretended not to care about her words even as the reminder that this was all supposed to be a trap disquieted her. "What are Nicodemus and Lasciel doing here? They weren't originally invited."

Circe smirked. "No, but they were in the neighborhood and I invited them. Lasciel is here as my guest and she'll be leaving Constantinople tomorrow. As for Nicky, I told him about our plan and he's interested in helping. He stands to gain from Sladian's death as well and he's willing to lend Magog, Abaddon and Namshiel to make sure the ritual runs smoothly. He's also willing to help me with getting him to cheat on you with me. From what you've said of Sladian, he doesn't seem to be the type to cheat unless influenced so I'll need all the help I can get."

Selene eyed Nicodemus who gave her a polite smile before turning back to his argument with Lasciel. "And what does he want in return?"

Circe shrugged. "Just a chance to study Sladian's sword. He says he's interested in seeing what it's made of for some reason."

Selene studied Nicodemus discreetly through narrowed eyes. "Very well. But make sure he doesn't try to keep it. I don't trust a sword of that caliber in his hands."

Circe rolled her eyes. "Of course not. He'd probably use it against use at the first opportunity. God knows he's looking for the first opportunity to get rid of us. You know how those fallen hate having to bow to our authority despite our greater power."

Selene nodded in agreement before looking around to see who had arrived.

Selene saw the roman magical council standing to the side chatting amicably and Selene mentally pat herself on the back for casting the neutral ground spell on the house. It makes it so no one in the house can attack each other or even sense the other's magical auras. As far as anyone who entered the house sensed, everyone in the house had a neutral alignment no matter who they were. Only active spell-casting would reveal their true alignment and the other part of her spell which restricted them from doing so made it so the dark sorcerers in attendance would never be found out.

Speaking of dark sorcerers, Selene caught sight of Morwen talking to Herpo in the corner. By the cruel smile on both their faces, he seemed to have agreed to take part in the ritual.

Herpo looked like a man in his 60s with white hair, pale skin and yellow eyes that he hid with an illusion to seem a murky brown. He carried a staff that had the shape of a serpent's head on top and Selene shuddered as she remembered what was hidden in it. Herpo was around 1,500 years old, having been born during the time known as the Greek Dark Ages. In his quest for more power and knowledge, he had created what was known as a Horcrux. Many believe it is a piece of the caster's soul lodged into an object but that couldn't be further from the truth.

Nothing except perhaps the Almighty himself can break or cut up a soul. It could be bludgeoned, twisted and tortured but never broken. What the Horcrux does is create an anchor to keep the soul from crossing over. It does this by creating an echo of the original soul at the time of creation. This echo works to both protect the Horcrux itself from harm and to call back the original soul before it crosses over. The soul would return to the horcrux where it would possess the nearest living thing. Once it did this, it would use up the horcrux's 'charge' so to speak to refashion the possessed body to resemble the original one. The now reborn magical could then create another horcrux anchor at his whim and move on.

Selene was disgusted at the creation of these things for several reasons. The ritual to create one involved 'bathing in the sins of man', which obviously involved raping pure virgins at some point. Furthermore, the stress of creating an echo of one's soul at the moment of creation and maintaining it from afar caused the one who created it much mental stress. There were times when Herpo seemed an inch away from attacking everyone around him from the mental stress. Selene couldn't imagine how someone who created more than one horcrux would be like.

'Probably a deranged lunatic with no sense of decency and a host of mental problems,' thought Selene disdainfully.

Across time and space, a man known as Voldemort, who was currently in spirit form, sneezed causing the snake he was going to possess to escape.

Voldemort yelled in anger and swore to maim and kill whoever was talking about him at the moment.

Right after he visited his father's grave to gloat over his superiority.

In his mind, it was worth the 5-day trip to get there.

Selene sighed and started to make small talk while watching the door, waiting for Sladian to arrive.

At that very moment, the man in question was trying and failing to find a way to hide the silver streaks in his hair. While the magical adoption ritual his father had cast over him had caused his hair to lose its previous messy state over the years, he had gained his distinctive silver streaks along the sides of his head.

Normally, Sladian wouldn't care that much about them but tonight he wanted to look his best since he would be meeting Selene's closest friends as well as Selene herself.

Sladian sighed as he gave it up for a lost cause and thought about the last week and a half with Selene.

Ever since his almost ravishing of Selene that first day that was only stopped by thinking of Jean, Sladian had been thinking of why he thought of Jean that day. Selene looked nothing like Jean. In fact, the Griffin girl he slept with three years ago looked more like Jean than Selene.

When Selene revealed she had slight telepathic powers, Sladian thought that was the reason why. However, as time passed and he became closer to Selene he started to realize that wasn't the complete truth.

The truth was he was starting to fall for the dark-haired sorceress with a mysterious past.

Most times, Selene presented a confident face to the world that told everyone that she didn't care for their opinions on her actions. However, there were times she let down her mask around Sladian. In those moments, Sladian saw a woman who was desperately trying to find a meaning in her existence beyond her current goals. They seemed so old that Sladian felt like a child (Ionic because he is technically older than anyone else in the room) before her yet at the same time... Infinitely wiser.

Those moments had become more and more common as the week progressed until she spent most of her time with him with her mask down. Something that Sladian noticed made her uncomfortable and vulnerable.

As time passed, Sladian realized that the reason he thought of Jean when he was about to sleep with Selene was because of the difference between Selene and the other women he had slept with. Unlike the women Sladian had slept with who had been nothing more than bodies to chase away the nightmares and cold of the night and who he had felt at most only lust and mild affection for, Sladian truly cared for Selene.

There was an emotional connection with Selene that hadn't been present with the other women and he knew that if he slept with her, it would mean more than just sex. This was something Sladian had been avoiding ever since he arrived in this point in time. He didn't want to make emotional connections or it would be that much harder when he left to his own time.

Worse still was that if he went further with Selene he could easily himself falling in love with her. Selene and he just clicked in a way that was both terrifying and exciting to Sladian. It reminded him who he used to be and slowly wore away at the mask of 'Sladian' he had been wearing for over 4 years. He knew that if he decided to pursue a relationship with Selene he would be unable to leave without her which would mean abandoning the people of his own time.

This was due to the fact that the way Sladian traveled through time wasn't through a spell, which could be adjusted to allow more than one person to use, but through Runic Mastery of Fate/Kaleidoscope. Sladian had a sneaking suspicion that he was meant to be in this time and that was the reason he had been trapped here despite the fact that he had mostly mastered Space-Time magic. This meant that since Sladian wasn't from this time he could eventually return to his own time the same age he was when he left.

However, Selene was from this time and he had no idea what effect taking her to his time could have. The moment she arrived, time could try to correct the 'error' it made in Selene's age and age her instantly, therefore killing her. If that happened, Sladian would never be able to forgive himself. The only way around it would be to teach her how to master the Fate/Kaleidoscope rune which could take years for her to master. He doubted she would have the same prodigy-level skill he had with runes.

Basically, it would end up with making a choice between Selene and Jean. If he decided to pursue a relationship with Selene then he knew he would commit himself 110% and be unable to leave her. That would mean abandoning Jean and Wanda in his own time. Either way, someone would get their heart broken because he had no illusions that Selene didn't feel the same way. The only question was this:

What did Slade, not Sladian, want?

Sladian sighed and checked himself over one last time before leaving his house and locking it behind him. As he walked toward Selene's residence, he tried to think about what he should do but only came up with thinking about it later.

Sladian knocked on the door of Selene's residence and waited for someone to answer. The door opened, revealing Selene in a beautiful royal blue Byzantine dress with silver accents. The dress was form-fitting and highlighted every one of Selene's magnificent curves. Sladian had to control himself in order to stop himself from drooling at the sight.

Selene seemed to notice if the small, satisfied smile on her face was any indication. "Sladian. I'm so glad you came."

Sladian couldn't but smile at Selene and planted a kiss on her cheek, a recent way of greeting between Sladian and Selene. "I wouldn't have left you alone with those vultures of the council once you told me they were coming. I have no doubt you could have handled them but I would have never have forgiven myself for leaving alone with them."

Selene gave him a wry smile and she hooked her right hand through his left as they walked through the vestibulum and into the atrium.

As they entered the atrium, Sladian took in the sight of the council members talking amongst themselves in the corner with a neutral look on his face. Sladian didn't trust any of them as far as he could throw a mountain with his physical strength alone. They were all greedy, self-entitled pompous bastards that would betray their own child for more power. In fact, Sladian had heard rumors that a few of them had done exactly that.

Sladian studied the rest of the people gathered and saw Circe talking with an average-looking man with a noose around his neck in a way reminiscent of a tie and a fairly attractive Egyptian looking woman. Beyond them was Morwen talking silently with an old man with a strange staff that had a snake motif on top.

Sladian reached out with his senses but found no hostility or maliciousness from anyone present so relaxed his guard slightly.

Selene sensed him relaxing and squeezed his forearm slightly with an encouraging smile before turning to her guests. "My date for the night is here so we can turn to eat in the dining room. May I present to you, Sladian Invictus."

Everyone turned at her announcement and Sladian kept a polite smile on his face and protected his mind as he greeted everyone. They returned the greeting politely and although he knew he could summon his swords at a moment's notice, Sladian wished he had their comforting weight on his hips. The way these people studied him instantly had his guard up. The only exceptions were Selene's soft gaze that held...something in their depths and Circe and the woman standing with her. The latter two were looking at him with a familiar gaze of a woman having found an attractive man they wish to bed.

With a sigh, Sladian was glad for Selene's presence because it seemed as if it was going to be a long night.

* * *

><p><strong>Two hours later, after dinner.<strong>

The group had retired to the exhedra to talk for a while. The meal had been exquisite and Sladian had detected nothing hidden within it so had eaten with relish. Sladian had spent most of the meal chatting with Selene and was happy that he managed to keep a genuine smile on her face for most of the night. Sladian had found himself protective of Selene, especially when he caught a few of the council members staring at her lustfully. A glare from him had caused them to back down fearfully, however, much to Selene's amusement.

Sladian sat himself on a reclining chair and absently wrapped an arm around Selene's waist as she on the arm of the chair and leaned against him. Neither of them noticed how natural the position felt nor how they had done it subconsciously.

A few of the older council members had begged off to retire for the night but 5 of the 8 who had come stayed as well as the man who had introduced himself as Nicodemus, the Egyptian woman named Lasciel as well as the man who introduced himself as Herpo. The name Herpo rang a bell but the only thing Sladian could think of was Herpo the Foul who died over a millennia ago. Sladian knew it couldn't be him since he was dead so filed it away for later study.

Circe sat beside her friend Lasciel to Sladian's left while Morwen sat beside Herpo across from Sladian. To Morwen's left was Nicodemus and the council members filled in the space in between to complete the circle.

Nicodemus was the first to break the ice with a polite smile to Sladian. "So you are Sladian Invictus, huh? Word of your victories, both in the arena and on the battlefield has reached most of the civilized world and everyone agrees that if it wasn't for your lack of noble birth you would be made consul already." Nicodemus's eyes flashed to Selene and he smiled knowingly. "Unless, of course, you are planning to become noble by marriage."

Sladian felt Selene tense at the barb directed at her saying she was basically selling herself to Sladian so he could gain nobility. Sladian hoped she didn't think that was why he liked her and gave her a reassuring squeeze that caused her to relax slightly.

Sladian turned back to Nicodemus and just smiled politely even as his eyes turned slightly frosty. "I believe Selene has done wonderfully as consul in her father's absence and I hope she stays consul for many years to come. Regardless of any future plans."

Nicodemus nodded politely and gave an apologizing smile. "My apologies. I didn't mean to offend. I only wished to inquire as to the nature of your and Selene's relationship. It is not often that the 'Black Rose of Constantinople' allows herself to get so close to a man. Many believed she would live out her days a widow."

Selene smiled coldly at Nicodemus even as her eyes flashed in warning. "Well, we never know what the future may bring. As for my association with men... well, it's simply because I have, until now, never met a man who had the strength, wisdom and courage to stand beside me. Sladian has all in spades."

Selene smiled to herself as she saw Nicodemus eyes flash in anger and his shadow almost lose control of itself and alert Sladian to its true nature. Nicodemus had tried to use Selene's body as a host for one his brethren around 200 years ago and Selene had easily escaped the Fallen's trap. She had then contemptuously smacked him around to establish her superiority and threatening him with throwing his coin into the sea under a spell that would make it so no one will ever find it if he ever attempted something like that again. His pride had made it so he would never forgive her while his calculating side understood that she was stronger and to not challenge her again.

Beside her, Sladian also caught the flash of anger in Nicodemus's eyes and had to hide a smirk. This was one of the reasons he was so attracted to Selene. She took no shit from anyone and didn't need anyone to protect her.

Circe spoke next, looking Sladian over like a hungry tiger salivating over a raw steak. "Yes, the quality of the men has certainly improved this past week."

Sladian simply smiled politely as he felt Selene's jealousy at her words and look and her grip became slightly more possessive as she smiled coldly at her promiscuous friend. Sladian gave her a reassuring squeeze as if to tell her he only had eyes for her which caused her to relax.

It was moments like these that made Sladian question whether he still had a choice about falling for Selene or whether he was deluding himself and had already fallen. The way they subconsciously acted as if they were already together had become more and more evident during the week and Sladian wondered if she felt the same.

The topic changed to the political atmosphere and the laws to be passed as time passed. Eventually, the topic turned to the current relations between magicals.

"I'm telling you that things have never been more precarious between magicals!" yelled a silver-haired council member named Aquila. "We're decades away from civil war unless we find a way to curb the more extremist mages!"

Herpo interjected his own opinion at that point. "How would you do that? Would you pass laws that outlaw certain kinds of magic? Would you restrict what they could learn? They would rebel at the first sign of that happening! Magic is meant to be explored. For its boundaries to be testes and expanded!"

"It depends on what direction you're expanding in," cut in Sladian.

Herpo turned to Sladian with a vaguely contemptuous look. "What do you mean?"

Sladian stared Herpo and the others down as he spoke. "What I mean is that you're right that magic is meant to be explored and expanded upon. However, there are some directions that magic is not meant to be expanded upon. There is a darker side to magic. Any learned sorcerer and magic-user know that to use magic is to walk with death. We are quite literally bending reality to our whims every time we cast a spell and by doing so, risk death with every word. This is the price we pay for our power and we pay it knowingly. Magics that expand into ways to escape death are always... foolish and destructive in the extreme. Studies into those areas always end in nothing but death for all those involved and tend to blacken the land they're performed upon for decades to come."

Herpo looked at him with a strange gleam in his eye as he spoke. "Some would say that the end justifies the means."

Sladian looked at him sharply as his eyes became cold. "The end never justifies the means."

Nicodemus cleared his throat as the air became tense and spoke. "On that note, what is your opinion on these so-called Fallen angels that are walking around? It's hard to believe that even fallen angels would stoop so low as to possess us humans."

Sladian just smiled as he hugged Selene closer to himself, causing her to lean on him more. "You shouldn't be. All angels, whether fallen or not, are jealous of humanity. We have something they do not but wish they did."

Nicodemus made a dismissing gesture. "Yes, free will. Big deal."

However, Sladian shook his head with a knowing grin. "If they did not have free will, there would be no fallen angels now would there? No. What we have... is infinitely greater as well as unique in Creation."

Nicodemus cocked an eyebrow and even his shadows seemed to darken slightly as if knowing what he spoke of. "And what's that?"

Sladian just smiled indulgently and waved him off. "Oh, I'll keep that to myself. But suffice it to say, that it was enough to make even a normally moral archangel like Lucifer fall from grace in envy."

The room was quiet at his words before another council member named Tullianos spoke. "That still doesn't solve the problem of how to go around implementing it. We can say that we wish to make certain things illegal all we want but it doesn't mean it'll work. There are many who will rebel against the idea."

Sladian nodded his head in agreement. "Yes. But those that rebel have to be brought to justice and if necessary, killed." Sladian inwardly frowned as he felt Selene tense slightly beside him and hugged her to him to say he didn't include her in the latter group.

Tullianos seemed shocked at his words. "K-Killed? Surely we don't have to go so far, do we? Taking them in and punishing them should be enough."

Sladian looked at him with steely eyes. "Sometimes bringing them in isn't enough. I'm not saying to punish them for past deeds but once the laws are implemented they must be followed. A soft hand in protecting them will only encourage more to break them. An example must be made of those who would break the laws that we will not tolerate it under anything but the most extreme circumstances. We can make one or two exceptions but a hard hand is sometimes necessary to protect the many from the few."

Lasciel, who had been quite during most of the debate, spoke up. "But isn't killing itself against one of your laws? Doesn't make you hypocritical?"

"Sometimes you have to break the law in order to protect it," retorted Sladian firmly. "Death should only be under the most extreme of circumstances but sometimes it is inevitable. There are those who would play with the fabric of the world in ways that endanger us all. That cannot be tolerated or else we all risk destruction."

Nicodemus spoke up next. "But won't that conflict with the laws of this empire as well? That would cause conflict between the magical and non-magical elements, no?"

Sladian shook his head in exasperation. "And that brings us to the second problem. Magicals should not be ruled under a non-magical government. The worlds are too different, too distinct to allow us to mesh cohesively. It's just asking for something to happen that will lead to civil war. Not to mention that we're divided amongst ourselves even more by our nationality. We have enough problems without fighting amongst ourselves due to one's nation warring against another's. The battles I had with enemy sorcerers are a fine example. That kind of battle shouldn't be so common and for so petty a reason as 'my nation ordered it'. Magicals should govern themselves independent of non-magical authority."

Nicodemus studied him intensively. "A radical proposal for a radical time. Perhaps it would work."

Sladian shrugged. "Perhaps."

The conversation turned to less tense topics and before long everyone except Sladian, Selene, Morwen and Circe had left. Morwen had said she was planning on staying with a friend to discuss some things and so left the three alone.

Circe turned around and smiled at Selene. "Well, I have to go and take care of some things. I'll leave you two alone to talk."

Selene smiled and said goodbye, leaving Sladian and Selene alone at last. Sladian wandered toward the peristylium while Selene locked the house down, for some reason getting nervous as she did so.

Selene took a deep breath and steadied her nerves for what she had to do. She tried to convince herself that she was nervous because of the danger of being caught and not because she was getting married to Sladian without much success. She had been married dozens of times before so why should this be any different?

Selene turned around and was struck speechless by the sight before her. Sladian was standing in the center of the peristylium looking up at the stars with the light of the Diamond Moon shining on him. The way the moon hit his face made him seem almost royal and ethereal to her and for a moment, Selene was struck by the knowledge that, whether he knew it or not, within a few hours they would be man and wife.

A part of Selene that she had buried deep down inside was ashamed at the way she was going about it but she quickly pushed it down. Selene saw a white rose with a few thorns and grabbed it in preparation of what was to come. Taking a deep breath, Selene walked to Sladian and wrapped her right arm around his left, bringing him out of his thoughts.

Selene smiled at him, causing him to return it with a small one of his own. "What are you thinking about, Sladian?"

Sladian sighed. "Just about what happened earlier with Nicodemus and Tullianos. It's people like them that make it hard for real change to happen. Everyone knows what we have to do but are too used to the status quo to do anything about it."

Selene cocked an eyebrow in question. "And what do you want to do?"

Sladian turned to her and looked her in the eye with a gaze that took her breath away. "I want to create a world where someone can study magic without fear. Where magic is a gift freely shared amongst ourselves and not hoarded like treasure amongst a few. I want a world where wars like the one I fought in are a rarity and magicals don't have to fight amongst ourselves in that way for dumb reasons." Sladian sighed and smiled sadly. "In short, I dream of a better world."

Selene was touched by his words but couldn't help but let out a bitter chuckle. "A person like me doesn't belong in that kind of world."

Sladian looked at Selene with a deep look in his eyes. "And why do you say that, Selene? I believe you more than anything deserve to live in a world like that."

Selene unwrapped herself from Sladian and turned away. "You say that because you don't know what I've done. The things I had to do in order to survive this harsh world."

Selene was sure Sladian would demand to know what she spoke about and once he knew he would turn his back on her and leave her just like everyone she ever loved had.

Instead, she felt him walk up behind her and embrace her from behind, his hands resting on her stomach making her lean into him. "I don't know what you've done, Selene. Considering some of the things I've done they must be bad. However, I believe everyone can change. All it takes is the will and want to do it."

Selene turned around and looked into Sladian's eyes, losing herself in the deep pools of golden amber, a part of her hoping what he said was true. "Really?"

Sladian smiled and leaned closer before whispering. "Really."

The two magicals stared at each other for a moment before leaning in into a soft kiss. Slowly, almost hesitantly, the kiss became more and more passionate until eventually Selene had her arms wrapped around his neck and Sladian was pushing her as close to him as possible.

Selene forgot all about her ambitions to become a goddess, she forgot about her past and she forgot about the sins that haunted her every time she closed her eyes. All she thought about right now was the softness of Sladian's lips, the love she saw in his eyes and the feel of his hardness against her core that was rapidly becoming wet in arousal.

In her lust, Selene gripped the white rose in her right hand too tightly and one of the thorns pricked her thumb, drawing blood. The feeling of pain brought a small cry from her lips, drawing Sladian's attention.

Selene internally chastised herself for crying in pain for such a simple prick and interrupting their kiss when her breath caught at Sladian's next action.

Sladian brought her thumb to his lips and gently sucked the blood from the wound. As he did it, he never lowered his eyes from hers, showing her his arousal and the growing love in his eyes.

Selene shuddered from the force of the feelings she was feeling and witnessing in Sladian's eyes. Any and all thoughts of killing Sladian instantly left her mind and loyalty and love took its place. The moment he let go of her thumb, Selene leaned forward and drew him into another passionate kiss.

The two continued to kiss passionately before air became a necessity and they broke apart. Selene took deep breaths and made no attempt to cover herself when she noticed that her dress has caused more of her skin to be shown. She felt a small thrill of satisfaction as she saw his eyes be drawn almost magnetically to the parts of skin shown. He hadn't acted that way with Circe or even Lasciel and they had been dressed much more provocatively. It filled her with feminine pride that she could make him act that way.

Taking a deep breath and steadying her nerves, Selene asked the question that for some reason she knew would change everything. "Can you- can you stay the night?"

Sladian looked at her, torn about what he should do. A part of him wanted to say no, stay faithful to Jean and find a way back to his time. The logical part of him told him that making connections would only make saying goodbye that much harder and that he shouldn't. It told him that he barely knew her and for all he knew this could all be an elaborate plan to get him to lower his guard and kill him. Most of her friends were obviously dark mages and the things she said before pointed to her being the same.

However, Sladian caught sight of Selene's eyes. He saw the vulnerability and love in them and somehow he instinctively knew that regardless of whether that was true or not, she truly and sincerely cared for him. Maybe even loved him. It was made more apparent by the fact that she never showed herself so openly before. And if he was honest with himself, he was falling for her as well. The question was whether he would allow himself to love her in return.

The part of old Slade that trusted people and loved freely that had been beaten down and hidden deep inside him stretched out its hand for one final chance in taking a leap of faith.

Sladian smiled at Selene and nodded. "Yes."

Selene gave him a beautiful smile in return, full of love and affection as she pulled him to her room.

* * *

><p><strong>Lemon start<strong>

Selene led Sladian into her room and stayed standing in front of her bed, wanting him to make the first move.

Selene felt Sladian step up behind her and slide his hands down her back and cup her rear through her dress. Her pussy was on fire as she felt a primal need to have Sladian inside of her. She felt his life force and shuddered in arousal. He was so alive, so intense. His every touch on her body sent jolts of pleasure throughout her being.

Sladian turned her around and brought into a passionate kiss that she eagerly reciprocated. As she massaged his tongue with her own, Selene pulled down the front of her dress before Sladian slipped it over her shoulders and down her body, leaving her naked as the day she was born. When he stood back up from pulling the dress off her feet Selene kissed him hungrily once more before beginning to work his clothes off as well. Once they were standing before each other with no clothing shielding each from the other's hungry gaze, Selene had to admit that she had never come across a finer example of the male species. Not once in her millennia of life had she found someone as utterly perfect as Sladian.

'And now he's all ours,' said a small, possessive voice in her head.

Reaching forward, Selene stroked his hard cock with a skilled hand. While it was true that she hadn't taken many sex partners in her millennia of life she had learned well from the ones she had. Now she was going to use every bit of what she'd learned to please this, the man that had somehow wormed his way into her heart in less than two weeks of meeting him.

With that thought in mind, she led him to sit on her bed, an idea in mind. She had done this a few times in her long life but only when she had no other choice to get what she wanted. This was the first time she did this of her own free will and desire.

"I haven't done this a lot so I might not be very good at it," said Selene as she sat on her knees before Sladian, "but something about you makes me want to try my best." She moved closer to his now proudly standing member and took a breath to take in his smell. "Dear God, you even smell good."

Sladian was beyond glad he had bathed before coming to the party or else she might be saying something completely different, meaning he'd miss out on what was to come.

She breathed deeply, her soft breath tickling the taught skin of his cock. Then her mouth parted and soft silken lips attached themselves to his shaft as she suckled up and down him with slow sure movements.

Sladian let out a breath through his nose, resting a hand on her long hair, riding her motion as she expertly mouthed up and down his length. She stopped sucking and teased the major vein along the base of his shaft until she reached his crown and supple lips spread themselves slowly and teasingly around it once more, spreading and becoming more pale as they did so, until his crown slipped into the intense heat of her beautiful mouth, her undulating tongue pleasuring him in ways that even Jean hadn't managed as it seemed to curl around his cock's head and tease the tight skin it was comprised of. It was a wonderfully erotic feeling and blew his mind for a moment, causing him to lean back for a moment and just ride the pleasurable wave of it.

Her hand was busy as she began to stroke him, slowly at first twisting to give more pleasure as it moved up and down his length, bringing him ever closer to nirvana. It was slow, it was sexy and it was intensely erotic. Despite his better judgment, Sladian couldn't help but compare her with Jean. Jean had been passionate and intense like a firestorm, as if she could never get enough of him. Selene was proving to be like a hurricane, slower to arrive but just as powerful and passionate. Her tongue slid around his member as she took him deeper into the intensity of her mouth, her full lips splaying around his girth. She took a breath through her nose and pushed forward slightly taking him even deeper until her tongue was lying flat on the underside of his manhood inside her mouth. Somehow she managed to make it undulate there; teasing him further into pleasurable heights and making him groan aloud and hold her hair a little tighter.

She was a natural Sladian had to admit, already he felt like he could burst and she had only just begun, of course it didn't hurt that he was looking down at the rather beautiful woman that had his manhood entrenched inside the heat of her pretty mouth. There was something amazingly beautiful to his eye for that. Selene was there to pleasure him, like it was her only wish in the world to give him pleasure and he could sense that about her. It filled Sladian with a deep sense of affection for her and he knew that something had changed between them and there was no going back.

"You realize that you are perhaps the most beautiful woman I have ever seen," groaned out Sladian. He was wondering where that had come from when molten chocolate eyes rolled up to meet his gaze and her cheeks imploded as she sucked just a little bit harder. His eyes seemed to cross for a moment but he held her gaze, her beautiful eyes locked onto his golden orbs for a long moment. It was an erotic sight as she kneeled before him like that, almost like she was worshipping him in some way and he had to admit it did his ego good. Jean had been a beautiful girl, but Selene was a grown woman with all the curves that came with it. There was a fair bit of intelligence lurking in those chocolate orbs and he had to admit he liked that about a woman, and while Jean had had an deviously perverted quality, Selene was pure erotica wrapped up in a drool worthy woman. Yes, he had to admit, he would love Jean to the day he died but there was something special going on here with Selene, something different in its entirety.

She pulled back, her lips caressing every millimeter of his shaft as she did so, her lips curving down across his crown until finally she was kissing the very tip of his cock. Then she pushed forward again, her lips splaying around his crown and sucking hard on it for a long moment. Sladian literally felt his knees going weak and a tinkling feeling grow in his balls, which she was still toying with. Then suddenly with no warning she was moving up and down his shaft with speed, her lips sliding all across him and slurping noises coming from where they were joined. Her saliva spread across his entire shaft as she bobbed up and down his length gaining depth with each repetition until finally she pushed forward one last time and took him as deep as she could, looking up at him with a devious look in her eyes. They were smiling at him in a knowing way, which told him she knew exactly what she was doing to him. Then to top it off she pushed a little further he felt the tightness of her throat and then she swallowed three times in quick succession, her eyes actually watering slightly with the effort of it.

With a silent roar, Sladian came down Selene's throat. The woman in question gulped down his seed, slightly disappointed that she didn't pull back in time to taste him. On the other hand, Selene was beyond happy that he so obviously enjoyed it and for the first time, she didn't mind doing it again at a later date.

When Sladian got his breath back, he stood up and brought Selene up with him before kissing her passionately. He ignored the fact that his cock and seed had just been in her mouth and just focused on the feel of her soft lips on his own. The passion she returned quickly revived what little he'd lost during his orgasm and he was back to full hardness.

Sladian ran his hands over Selene's flawless smooth back before sliding down to her luscious ass that had been teasing him every morning during their spars. He felt her shiver in his grasp at the pleasure he was sending her as his fingers slipped down further into her soaking honey pot. Selene ground her hips forward until her slit was rubbing up and down his hard length, causing him to groan in arousal at the feeling. She obviously needed him as badly as he wanted her because Selene quickly guided his cock to her soaking entrance. She didn't even notice that he had gently led her onto her back on her bed as his cock pressed through her nether lips and deep into her fiery core. Her sex gripped him tightly as she welcomed him home into her delicious body.

Selene couldn't help but gasp as Sladian's thick and long length split her insides open with one deep stroke. She winced in slight pain since it had been a long while since her last time as well as the fact that she had never had someone as big as him in her. The pain quickly left and she kissed her lover between gasps as he began to work his wonderful piece of meat in and out of her center. She felt his magic start to undulate like the ocean as he made love to her body. No, not to her body. To her. Sladian was making love to her, not just to her body and this made her feelings of affection and love grow even more.

His hips worked back and forth between her spread legs to stretch out her inner walls. Selene gripped Sladian's cock tightly and worked his length with her inner muscles which were enhanced with mutant strength. An idea came to her as he thrust into her and contemplated it seriously. Selene had never purposefully tried to suck a bit of her lover's life force while having sex because it meant an intimate bond that she had never shared with past lovers.

Selene normally had only two ways of sucking someone's life force: all of it at once or partially which turned the person into a psychic vampire like her only subservient to her will. However, when having sex their life forces were so entwined due to the act that if she sucked a bit of her lover's life force, it would create an intimate and unbreakable bond between the two. She had found out when she tried to suck a previous lover's life force during the act and felt the bond forming.

Luckily, the bond takes about two months after the act to fully form and cement and she could break it at any point beforehand. She had done so quickly the next day and felt nothing from the breaking of bond. Mostly because she felt nothing for him emotionally.

Already she could tell that Sladian was different. If she did the same to him, it would probably be permanent until one of them died.

Forgetting her mission and its planned consequences, Selene brought her lips down to Sladian's neck as she licked his delicious flesh slowly in preparation for what she was going to do.

As Sladian thrust into Selene, he felt her start to kiss his neck gently, drawing a moan from his lips. Suddenly, he felt her almost seem to inhale something from him, drawing a deep orgasmic moan from her lips. He felt nothing change in him but felt something pass between them as something started to form between their spirits. A few hard thrusts later, Sladian felt her cunt clamp down in violent orgasm as she was pushed over the edge. Sladian paused to let her grind her mound up against his pelvis while she rode out her orgasm.

Selene had never known so much pleasure as she did at that moment. Sladian's life force was the most intense thing she had ever felt let alone eaten. It was the most delicious life force she had ever tasted in her 15 millennia of life. She immediately came around his throbbing cock as she felt something fundamentally change inside of her. Selene felt more powerful than ever as she shook beneath Sladian's form in ecstasy. When she finally stopped convulsing in orgasm around Sladian's thick cock she looked up at her lover in wonder and amazement. It was the first time she had orgasmed before her lover and his stamina promised many more sweaty and satisfied nights to come.

"You ok?" Sladian asked with a gentle smile at the beauty pinned beneath him, welcoming him into her wonderful body.

"Yes. Better than ok," gasped Selene before hungrily kissing him.

Selene's teeth nipped at his bottom lip as Sladian began sliding his length through her folds once more, wetter now that they were coated with her orgasmic fluids. Selene pushed her mound up against his pelvis and ground her sparse coating of black pubic hair against him as she squeezed and clenched her vaginal muscles tightly around his length. Her strong body coated with soft flawless skin slid beneath and against him with repetitive grinding movements. Sladian inhaled her sweet scent and pushed himself back against her.

Selene wanted to give her lover as much pleasure as she possibly could after what he just did to her. She truly felt like a woman for the first time since... well, since ever, under Sladian's gorgeous form. She ran her fingers along his rippling back muscles as he worked his hips up and down to drive them between her inviting thighs. Selene had always been told her unblemished ivory skin made her even more attractive and if the way Sladian was licking down her flesh was any indication then she had to conclude that her complexion was indeed one of Sladian's favorite features. She arched her back and drove her mound harder along his deeply penetrating shaft as she felt Sladian suck hungrily at her left breast. When his teeth bit her breast around her nipple sending a slight jolt of pain through her body, Selene felt herself have another orgasm.

Sladian greedily sucked Selene's nipples as if he was trying to draw milk from them. He could feel his arousal increase with every passing moment he spent buried in this beauty's luscious body. She was writhing beneath him in orgasm as he continued to shaft her slick channel. Her scent was heady to his senses as combined with her taste, he was quickly letting his magical aura become unrestrained. This had the effect of increasing Selene's arousal even more and she moaned loudly in passion and lust. Selene's hands slipped down to his bum as she pulled him harder and faster into her inviting snatch with strength he didn't know she had. Her molten chocolate eyes seemed to become brighter as pleasure coursed throughout her entire body.

Selene couldn't believe her lover hadn't cum in her body yet. His stamina was amazing to her because it felt like they had been making love for an eternity. Selene was sure now that what they were doing was truly making love. She sensed a deeper connection with Sladian than any other being she had met in her long existence. She truly felt that she now loved him and looking into his intense golden eyes all she saw staring back at her was a deep well of love and affection directed towards her. At that moment she began working her body feverishly to bring him off into her. She wanted to feel his essence pouring into her womb as his cock pulsed with pleasure. She would think about what this meant for her plans later. For now, she wanted to feel her new husband's seed enter her.

"Cum in me Sladian…fill me with your seed…come on, beloved…I want to feel it in me," moaned Selene into Sladian's ear as her inner muscles worked him tightly.

Sladian couldn't hold back any longer so he pushed his length entirely into her hot sheath where it felt most at home. His balls tightened up as he began to blast Selene's vaginal walls with his seed. Selene gasped and cried out beneath him as she was wracked with her most intense orgasm yet. We both moaned together as our genitals worked to transfer his essence into her body. As her orgasm passed, Sladian kissed her tenderly as she moaned beneath him.

Sometime later he slipped out of her soft folds to hear her whimper in protest. Sladian smiled before pecking her lips and sliding his body behind her and inserting himself back into her hot sheath. Selene sighed happily at the feeling of him inside her again and cuddled back into him as he laid kisses along the back of her neck.

**Lemon end**

* * *

><p>Selene smiled genuinely as she felt her lover kiss the back of her neck. Her desire for this man hadn't lowered even a little but unfortunately her body couldn't take much more. While she had a lot of stamina when it came to battle, that didn't automatically transfer to stamina in bed. It was a different set of muscles being used and so didn't have the same level of stamina.<p>

Selene giggled slightly as she told herself she would fix that quickly with Sladian happily helping her 'train'.

"I love you, Selene," murmured Sladian sleepily.

Selene froze and happy tears came to her eyes at his words. It was the first time anyone had ever said that to her and she luxuriated in the feeling.

Selene sniffed and gave a watery smile. "I love you too, Sladian."

Sladian grunted. "Slade."

Selene was confused and said so.

Sladian just smiled and kissed her neck once more. He made another leap of faith as he made a decision. "Call me Slade. It's what my closest friends always called me."

Selene smiled at that. "Slade it is then. I love you, Slade." She cuddled back into him as she felt him drift off to sleep.

Selene froze once more as she felt the ritual saying they were married conclude and felt the bond marking them as husband and wife form. Luckily, Sladian had fallen asleep and didn't feel the bond form.

It was like a bucket of cold water had hit her as she remembered the original plan for Sladian. The idea of him dying caused her heart to break and an almost animalistic rage to take control. But what could she do? Already five sorcerers near her level knew of the plan and if she backed out now they'd kill them both.

Selene bit her lip as she tried to think of an escape but the only thing she could think of was her original plan to become a goddess. Once she did she could resurrect anyone she wanted, right? She'd simply sacrifice Constantinople and ascend to godhood and resurrect Sladian. Surely he'd forgive her? She didn't know what she'd do if he didn't.

Selene turned around and stared into Sladian's sleepy face and felt her heart melt. Could she truly betray this man who was the first to believe the best about her and love her for who she was?

Selene cuddled into her husband's chest and fell asleep to the rhythmic sound of his heartbeat, her thoughts in turmoil.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Chapter 12 done. As always read & review. Don't forget the poll because I am removing some of them and may be adding others next update.**

**But for now here is the current poll:**

**Illyana Rasputin/Magik 6**

**Gamora 5**

**Barbara Morse/Mockingbird 4**

**Silver Sablinova/Silver Sable 3**

**Ava Ayala/White Tiger 2**

**Dani Moonstar 2**

**Karima Shapandar/Omega Sentinel 1**

**Ophelia Sarkissian/Viper 1**


	14. Chapter 13: PC Part 3: JB&TMI

Chapter 13: PC Part 3: Judgment, Betrayal & The Monster Inside

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. All other concepts and ideas from other books or stories belong to their respective authors. No copyright infringement is intended**.

**Warning: This chapter contains Lemons, Adultery, Legendary Battle Scenes of Awesomeness and a surprise at the end.**

* * *

><p><strong>One month later, Constantinople, early 532 A.D<strong>

Slade smiled happily as he watched Selene sneak out of his house to get to her own before the sun rose.

Both Selene and Slade thought it was too early to move in together despite her sleeping over at his house every night. Slade didn't want to sully her hard-earned reputation and Selene didn't want to leave Circe and Morwen without a home if she moved. So for now, they would play this little game where she would sleep over (though there was very little sleeping being done) and then sneak back to her home before the sun rose so no one would be the wiser. Anyone who didn't see her leave his house would simply think they either missed it or she left later at night.

Slade walked back into his house to wait two hours for Selene to 'wake up and visit him' where they would take a morning bath together. Selene would take a quick wash to wash his scent off when she reached her home but would wait to take a more luxurious bath with Slade himself.

Slade smiled as he remembered the past month.

Over the month, Selene had broken through most of the barriers that he had put up to survive the past four years. The fact that he was letting her call him 'Slade', a name he associated with the person he was before, was an obvious example.

She had unknowingly chipped at the paranoid, anti-social mask he had put up to show the man he was before. He was still slightly paranoid and the things he'd learned over the years were still a part of him but he had learned that there was a time and place for everything. If he had stayed the same as he was before he met Selene and returned to his time he probably would have found it near impossible to adjust. Now, however, he had rediscovered the old him that loved magic simply for being magic and learned to once again to trust his instinct when it came to people. He could never thank Selene for that.

As Slade waited for Selene to arrive, he thought on his decision to stay in this time. It hadn't been a hard choice after his first night with Selene. While he still loved Jean, he couldn't live his life based on her love alone. He had fallen in love with Selene and didn't think Jean would want him to live his life trying to return to her and miss out on a chance to be happy.

The fact that once he slept with Selene the idea of never doing it again made him want to yell out 'blasphemy!' may have something to do with it. However, he preferred his original argument.

It made him sound nobler.

Slade smiled as he sat in his peristylium with both Yamato and Líthi out. Taking Yamato in his left hand and Líthi in his right he channeled magic through both before bringing them together side by side. Slade then pushed them together so they were touching while thinking of what he wanted.

In a flash of light, the two blades fused together leaving a single blade in his hand.

The resulting blade looked exactly the same as Yamato except the blade was now silver and the hilt golden in color. There was also a silver chain attached to the pommel of the blade that wrapped around his right arm up to his shoulder. Slade had found out that he could mentally control the chains at will and he often used it to capture targets or add another angle of attack. Slade stood up and gave the new blade a few swings to test it out before placing both hands on the hilt and seeming to pull it apart. In another flash of light, he had both blades separated once more.

Concentrating on the shape of a broadsword, Slade pushed them together once more and after the flash of light, another blade was in his hands. This one looked exactly like Líthi except for a slightly slimmer blade, wave-like patterns along its length and the symbol for Fate/Kaleidoscope was glowing a deep red unlike the purple of the Fate/Void symbol. This was because it had the abilities to use Fate/Kaleidoscope but it wasn't joined with the piece of the Original Sword that held that rune, just a blade that could wield it. With another flash of light, he held Yamato and Líthi once more.

Slade had discovered this aspect of Líthi during his training with Ulthane. As one of the 32 pieces of what was once one sword, Líthi has the ability to join together with any other blade the wielder wishes it too. While joined, the resulting blade can take the shape of either Líthi with a few characteristics of the other blade or the other blade it mixed with while taking the color scheme of Líthi. Either way, the resulting blade could use the abilities of both blades and the only difference was the style of combat Slade used when fighting.

This was how he used Yamato in combat while also hiding its existence. Since o-katanas weren't exactly common in these parts of the world (or even created yet), he couldn't use it openly. However, there were times when he needed the Space-Time abilities that Yamato wielded in combat. To circumvent that, he would meld Líthi and Yamato together while keeping the basic shape of Líthi. This allowed him to use Yamato's Space-Time abilities while wielding Líthi.

Slade gave Yamato a few test swings and went through a few katas so he didn't get rusty using it. He then put both blades in a small pocket dimension he stored them in and sat down lotus style in the middle of the garden as he contemplated his latest training.

Slade had been using the scrolls he had bought on hellfire and soulfire usage to gain control over them. They were too much of an advantage to just leave unused. Therefore, he had taken to using the afternoons to train in his usage of soulfire and then hellfire before Selene arrived. Slade had already seen various characteristics of both flames.

Both flames enhance magic with one key difference: Hellfire gives power to the means; Soulfire gives power to the intention. For example, if he used hellfire to enhance a wave of force, hellfire would make the wave stronger. However, if he used soulfire a silvery hand that he could control, with the same power of the original spell but given direction like a hand, would appear. Basically, hellfire gave power while soulfire gave control.

However, both had drawbacks.

Soulfire used part of the soul to enhance the magic. While the soul couldn't be broken per say, it could lose its 'charge' much like a battery. If soulfire is used too much without leaving time to 'recharge', the user could die. Slade also noticed that when he meditated and used soulfire, it was easy for him lose sense of reality. The soulfire seemed to soothe all his worries and it was only his powerful will that kept him from losing complete touch with reality and die simply because his body no longer considered breathing important. The first time he'd meditated on it without knowing, it had taken Selene shaking him to push him out of his trance.

Hellfire, on the other hand, feeds the negative emotions of the user and lowers his inhibitions. While Slade could easily protect his mind from the negative feelings it tries to create, hellfire attacks his inhibitions by attacking his libido, making him very horny and using chemicals similar to a drug to make it easier for him give in to lust. The first time he'd used it heavily since he started his training he'd spent all night making love to Selene furiously, to her extreme delight. However, Slade had been scared because there had been a serious risk of him continuing to have sex with her whether or not she wanted to continue. Slade had taken a risk and told Selene about it and she had promised to help him with his urges if he couldn't control himself. Slade had more or less gained control of it but there were times when he slipped and the result was a night full of sex with Selene, not that he was complaining about that.

However, Circe was visiting more and more lately and the last time she visited was with Selene while he was training his hellfire. She had been wearing a revealing number that emphasized her curves and it had taken all his control not to jump her right then and there. He had been ashamed of himself once he gained control but Selene simply kissed him and told him it wasn't his fault.

He had never been more grateful for her presence than right at that moment.

Still, with that thought in mind Slade started to meditate to gain control of hellfire. He had already gained control of his soulfire. All that was left was hellfire. Once he gained control he sensed that they would mix like Ulthane said and create a new power. Slade wondered what it would be like but shook it off for later.

Slade was meditating now because the closer he got to controlling hellfire, the more extreme the few times he lost control were, at least in terms to his lust. He feared that if Circe showed up while he was training it again, he wouldn't be able to control himself and either seduce her to bed or take her by force.

It was something that terrified him but it wouldn't stop until he gained control of hellfire and so here he was training in its usage.

He just hoped he didn't do anything he regretted before he gained control.

* * *

><p><strong>At Selene's house<strong>

Selene smiled happily as she left her room dressed to visit her husband.

It had been a month since their unofficial marriage and Selene couldn't be happier. Of course, Sladian (now called Slade) didn't know they were married but they were officially courting and everyone in the city knew it.

Selene rolled her eyes when she remembered the reaction of most men when they found that the 'Black Rose of Constantinople' was taken. She growled to herself as she remembered many men try and attack Slade out of envy as well as many more who tried to barter for her like she was a piece of furniture.

Selene smiled once more when she remembered the thrashing Slade gave the first man who tried to buy her from him. In fact, he gave the ones who tried to buy her from him more of a thrashing than those who simply attacked him. Apparently he got angrier at those who disrespected or threatened her more than those who threatened or disrespected him.

Unknown to him, Selene was now only feeding on the men who attacked him instead of the usual man destined for the gallows like before. In her mind, she felt that those that attacked her beloved were guilty of a bigger sin than any murderer.

Selene smile turned sad as she remembered the first night she showed up at his house at night and heard him screaming in the middle of a nightmare. She had been terrified that Circe and Morwen had stepped up their timetable and were trying to kill him now and rushed to his side. When she found him having a nightmare she had been both relieved and scared for him.

Many people believe that soldiers who spend years at war would eventually get over it and no longer have nightmares about the battles. Those people have never been a real life-or-death battle before or have had to do things that would condemn their souls to hell no matter how much they begged forgiveness. It was made worse by the fact that soldiers on the frontier like Slade were almost in a constant state of battle. There was no chance to slow down and think about their actions, only react. No chance to recover from the things they did, only commit more acts that would haunt them.

Selene remembered the first time she had used her life-force stealing energies consciously and willingly.

It had been a woman from the village where the 'uncle' who had adopted her had lived. It had been a few days after she had killed him in self-defense when he tried to rape her and the day after they buried him. Everyone thought it had been due to sickness and no thought had been given about it being due to witchcraft or murder. However, one woman who had her eye on her uncle for marriage at the time suspected Selene was at fault. Probably because she subconsciously knew the man had eyes for her and was jealous.

The woman had cornered her and threatened to reveal her as an evil magic-user that killed her 'good, sweet uncle'. Selene had been so terrified that she begged her to keep quiet and when the woman slapped her, she snapped and attacked her with her newly-discovered pyrokinesis.

Luckily, they had been in the woods when it happened and no one heard the woman's screams as half her face burned. Selene had quickly realized what she had done and cancelled the flames. However, the damage had been done and the woman fell on her back moaning her pain and threatening to reveal her to everyone after what she'd done.

Selene had been so afraid to be sent into the wilderness on her own or outright killed that she decided that the woman had to die.

She had stood there and looked at the woman as she slowly pulled out her life-force and was battered by memories and emotions- her own, the woman's, memories of her childhood in her home village. Selene had looked at the woman's health and beauty, which had been marred and which she would at that moment destroy completely. Selene had felt the woman's despair and resignation to her fate, which had been almost palpable energies, scarring her nerves like lightning.

A deep sorrow had settled across Selene, sorrow at the tragedy being perpetrated and the knowledge that this would probably happen many times more. Sorrow at the knowledge that she had basically been born to take lives. As Selene absorbed the woman's life force, she had seen a glimpse of what the woman's future could have been if she had never entered it. She had dimly glimpsed good and kind acts, love, perhaps family and children. She had cut through the bonds between the woman and that future, and at the time she could almost feel the pain of that cut like a physical thing.

At the time, the sensation had been almost comforting, reminding her that she still possessed of human emotion and values.

However, as the faces of the people she killed over the centuries blurred until she could no longer separate them, the pain of the cuts no longer hurt. She became numb to it all and once she realized she no longer felt bad about what she was doing, she became convinced she was a monster. That was when she decided to aim for godhood. She couldn't live with the weight of the things she had done so she told herself that the elders of her tribe were right and she was a goddess. Once she became a goddess, all the things she did would be justified in her mind and she wouldn't be a monster.

Slade was having nightmares for similar reasons. It wasn't the fact that he killed that tortured him. It was the fact that he killed easily that bothered him. It had become almost second nature to him and that was what gave him nightmares. The fact that killing had come so easily to him made him subconsciously think himself a monster.

Selene had comforted him and told him that he wasn't monster. That he was man who did horrible things because he had no choice, not because he wanted to. Selene told him all the things she wanted someone to tell her in the deepest parts of her heart and held him as he went to sleep. Ever since, his nightmares had diminished until they became a rarity.

As Selene walked out of her room, her sad smile dropped when she sensed Circe waiting for her in the atrium. Putting on a face of nonchalance, Selene walked into the atrium and cocked an eyebrow at Circe.

She was wearing an almost scandalously short one-piece that showed off her legs and hugged her chest to emphasize her breasts. The one-piece only covered from the bottom half of her breasts down to cover her crotch but not her upper thighs. It was much like a one-piece bathing suit in that aspect. It was red like Circe's hair and only the fact that she had a red cloak dangling on her back like a cape that was obviously going to be used to cover her saved her from causing a scandal when she walked out the door.

Circe smiled at Selene in a patronizing way. "Having fun with your newest boy toy?"

Selene gave her a thin smile in response. "Quite. So what can I do for you, Circe?"

Circe smiled evilly. "Everything's in place for my entry into Sladian's bed. Nicky had been working on his mind slightly the whole month and he confirmed that Sladian almost jumped me the last time I visited. For some reason, Sladian's more prone to falling to his lusts during the afternoon."

Selene kept her mouth shut though she knew it was due to him training with hellfire in that time. She had gained the benefits of his lust at that time many times over the past month and she loved it. However, the idea that Circe was now going to be bedding her husband made her want to rip out the whore's throat.

The problem was that she still hadn't found a way to save Slade from the trap. While she could simply refuse and tell him, that only meant that Circe and the others could change their plans in ways she didn't know. If that happened she would be completely unaware of any plan they might cook up and as much as she hated to admit, Morwen and the others were very resourceful. Not to mention the fact that Morwen was more powerful, magically speaking, than her, so it made for a dangerous gamble.

The other problem was that taking this step would be cutting her ties with her old ways and ambitions forever. She would have to abandon her plans to ascend to godhood because Slade would never allow it since it involved the sacrifice of so many. Plus, the idea of outliving Slade was not appealing at all. She also had no illusions that she would be forgiven and welcomed back into the fold if she did this. They would put a bounty on her head and she would be running for the rest of her life. The only way to stop that from happening was to break their power by killing the majority of them.

Morwen, at the very least, had to die. That bitch could hold a grudge for the simplest things for millennia. The fact that she was soon going to be powerful enough to beat her even with her superior experience was worrying as well. Selene had no illusions that she was even close to being able to do the same.

The Fallen and the council members that were coming to help had to die as well. Any of them surviving would be enough to alert the rest of the council and Nicodemus to her betrayal and both would quickly try to kill her while she was alone and weak. Something they may succeed in depending on what injuries she gained from the fight.

Last was Circe. She didn't have to die per say. Circe was one to let things go unless they personally affected her. If Selene let her escape without a scratch and even gaining something, Circe would forget about her betrayal and simply leave her alone. It all depended on whether or not she became obsessed with Slade like Selene feared she might.

Circe had the tendency to get obsessed over certain men who she found interesting. The first had been Odysseus and he had had a terrible fate befall him for rejecting her. Not a year after reclaiming his kingdom, Circe had come with an offer to be his queen. When he refused she burned his entire kingdom to ash and dust. The other had been Julius Caesar himself who had her favor for most of his life while she played as Servilia Caepionis, his mistress and supposed mother of Marcus Brutus. This continued until he refused to name her his queen. She became vengeful at that time and arranged for his assassination through her 'son', Brutus.

There were many other examples in her history of her hypocrisy of supposedly hating men, falling for powerful men and then killing them when they spurned her in some way. She didn't even genuinely love them, she simply enjoyed having control over powerful men. Selene feared Slade would be her latest obsession if she was allowed to live and so was at odds about what her fate would be.

Selene was brought out of her thoughts by Circe's voice. She shook her head slightly and cocked an eyebrow at her. "Sorry, I was thinking about the ritual. You said I decide the fate of Slade, correct? Does that mean I can simply take his magic and leave him alive?"

Circe frowned and shrugged. "Maybe but I doubt it. The ritual isn't powerful enough for that. It simply holds him still until you exact vengeance on him in some physical way. You'd have to have the power to strip him of his magic yourself. Why? Planning on keeping him as your personal boy toy?" she said teasingly.

Selene smiled thinly and lied through her teeth. "He is quite good in the bedroom and that is a rarity. I'd like to keep him alive if possible. Once he loses his magic, he wouldn't be a threat anymore, would he?"

Circe frowned deeply. "Don't be so sure. A magic-less man can still hold a dagger and you already told me he was skilled with a blade. Furthermore, the council members want him dead. Probably so they can continue to keep their power and not bow to any Sorcerer Supreme. The idiots think themselves the newest incarnation of the Liberators, the ones who assassinated Caesar. Morons, the lot of them."

Selene had to agree at that. The council members had approached them with the offer to help them plan Slade's death soon after her party. It seemed Slade's words had scared them due to fear of them being killed as well. It was a genuine fear since most of them had raped and killed themselves and if Slade found out they would be dead within the hour.

Selene nodded at Circe as she hid her rage at the fact soon Circe would be enjoying Slade's bed. It wasn't the fact that Slade would bed another woman that bothered her. It was the fear that Circe would wrap him around her finger like she had done to so many before him and he would forget about her, Selene. She didn't think she could handle that if he did.

She also couldn't alert Slade of the plan because Circe would be able to sense his acting. The whore was very good at sensing when a man was acting during sex. Probably because she had so much experience in it, the slut.

Therefore, Slade's reactions had to be genuine both during and after. If she sensed something amiss there's no telling what she would do in response.

Despite how much it hurt, Selene had to harden her heart and let Slade fall into this trap at the very least. She just hoped Slade would forgive her.

"Very well. So you will pass by his house this afternoon pretending to be looking for me and seduce him then?" asked Selene neutrally.

Circe smirked evilly and nodded. "Yep. I have to admit to looking forward to it. From the way you've been walking around this past month he must be something in the sack for you to be able to so easily fake being in love with him."

Selene just gave her a fake smile and didn't correct her on her presumption. "Then I'll go see him now and pretend to have plans this afternoon so you can have your way with him tonight. Be sure to leave before morning so I don't 'catch' you in his bed."

Circe nodded and left to her room to wait for this afternoon.

Meanwhile, Selene controlled her jealousy and fear at the fact that Slade would soon be sleeping with Circe and walked out of her house towards Slade's. If Slade was going to be bedding Circe tonight she would have sex with him now so he didn't forget that she was much better than that whore any day.

* * *

><p><strong>An hour later, Sladian's house<strong>

Slade let a moan as he released into Selene's willing honey pot. The woman in question shook in orgasm on his lap before falling limp on top of him where he placed kisses along her neck.

Selene had come earlier than normal today and promptly convinced Slade to take a long, hot bath with her early. It hadn't taken long for the bath to turn into a passionate lovemaking session with Selene in control on his lap as she rode him to various orgasms.

Not that he was complaining, but Slade wondered why her lovemaking seemed tinged with a bit of desperation, as if afraid of losing him. Slade had asked her when she arrived if anything was wrong but she had assured him she was fine and just a little stressed from talking to Circe about something. He had sensed she was telling the truth and let it go.

Selene moaned into Slade's shoulder, completely satiated. The way he made love to her settled any fears she had about him forgetting her for Circe. It was more than just the passion he showed her but also the way he always looked at her with love and affection that showed her he would never toss her aside for another.

No, what still bothered her was the fact that Circe was using Slade. If she genuinely cared for her then Selene wouldn't mind sharing. Heck, the mental image of Circe eating her out as Slade pounded into her from behind was quite steamy. However, that wasn't the case and the fact that they were using and lying to him made her angry; at herself and at Circe.

Despite her feelings, she was still confused about what she should do. Millennia of dark deeds are hard to shake off and that wasn't even counting the fact that Slade didn't know the full story. What would he think of her if he heard the full story of her past? What would he think when he found out she had killed her mother before she was old enough to speak her first word?

Selene was brought out of her thoughts by the feeling of Slade kissing her breasts, drawing a moan from her. That combined with the fact that she still had the mental image of the threesome with Circe in her head was quickly making it so she was getting her second wind.

"What are you thinking about, love?" asked Slade curiously.

A calculating look entered her eye as she forced a smile to her face. "Oh, just thinking about Circe. You know she has a thing for you right?"

Slade looked startled and slightly panicked at her words. "I haven't done anything to encourage it, love. You know I only have eyes for you."

Selene's eyes softened and she gave him a soft kiss. "I know. To tell you the truth I don't mind it if you do sleep with her. I don't mind sharing your body. It only bothers me because I know she won't take it seriously and just play with you. You deserve better than that."

Slade shrugged. "Well, I have no plans to sleep with her either way so you don't have to worry."

Selene hide her shame at not being able to tell him the truth behind a smirk. "Really? You've never thought of her hot, nubile body wet and pressing up against you as she moaned in orgasm?"

Slade shivered in arousal and cleared his throat before giving her a playful glare. "You're evil, you know that? Now I'll have that image in my head all day and I'm back to being hard as stone."

Selene smiled lustfully as she used her inner muscles to squeeze him inside her. "Well, I better fix that won't I?"

The next hour was spent in passionate lovemaking until Selene had to leave for her 'business'.

* * *

><p><strong>That afternoon<strong>

Slade was standing with his eyes closed in the middle of the peristylium as he slowly controlled his hellfire as it traveled through his body like it was replacing his blood for lava. At first, it had been painful and hard to wield but slowly, Slade was getting a better grip on it.

Unfortunately, as the raging boner in his shorts proved, it still gave his libido a major boost and since Selene couldn't stay the night, it meant he would have to use his hand to relieve himself. Considering he had been receiving sex on a regular basis for over a month, it was a sad, sad thing to have to go through.

For some reason, Slade couldn't get the image of a naked Circe from his mind. It didn't help that his mind was whispering to him that Selene obviously didn't mind and since Circe was so curious, she should get a first-hand look. Slade tried to banish the voice in his head but was largely unsuccessful.

If he had opened his eyes, he may have noticed that his shadow was darker than it should be and become suspicious.

Slade was distracted from his thoughts as he felt someone enter his house. He had taken to leaving his house open since the wards would take care of anyone with intentions to harm him from entering. Whoever entered had no plans to harm him... at the moment at least.

Just as Slade opened his eyes to see who it was, his hellfire lurched within him as if responding to a familiar presence. This broke his inhibitions due to being unprepared for it and made him almost lose control to his lust.

It was worsened when he saw it was Circe. The image Selene had conjured was still on his mind and he couldn't help but be reminded that he was alone with her.

Circe was wearing a large cloak to cover herself with so he couldn't see anything except for her sandal-clad feet. However, the sexy little smirk she had on her face told him she had come with only one thing in mind and she wasn't planning on leaving until she got it.

Circe's eyes smoldered in lust as she saw his length bulging out from his usually loose pants. She licked her lips as she came to the conclusion that she was really going to enjoy this. "Hello, Sladian. I'm looking for Selene. Have you seen her?"

Slade grunted as he tried to control himself long enough to send her away. "No. S-She left to conduct some b-business. You should look for her at the house since she should be by there later."

Circe made a show of looking around before turning back to Slade with sultry look. "So... we're alone?"

Slade couldn't help but nod.

Circe smirked seductively at that and opened her cloak, revealing the tight-fitting one-piece she had underneath.

Slade's lust flared wildly at the sight of her form fitting one-piece that left nothing to the imagination. Slade was so shocked that he didn't react as Circe dropped the cloak on the floor and sauntered over to him and kneeled in front of him.

The breath left his body in a whoosh along with his reason when Circe started rubbing his erection through his pants.

"My, my. Is that for me?" asked Circe sultrily.

* * *

><p><strong>Lemon start, Skip you want<strong>

Sladian grabbed her shoulders and pulled her up into a scorching kiss that curled Circe's toes. She had to admit that he knew how to kiss and decided to use her experience in the sexual arts of magic to make this memorable for both of them.

As for Slade, it was as if his entire range of taste exploded with the magic that Circe was channeling into her tongue. Her mouth tasted of the sweetest fruit as his lips and tongue explored it. Her skin was smooth and soft as his hand slid over it. Slade pulled her to him as she stroked her hand on his cock through his pants. His hands roved down her back and cupped her bum gently as she stared hungrily into his eyes. Slade didn't even think about moving to the bedroom and simply took off both their clothes right there in the middle of the peristylium and led her to lie on her back on a clear patch of ground. If she wanted to act like a slut then he would treat her like one.

Slade teased Circe's already wet cunt with his length before slowly impaling her on it, to her loud delight. Slade only stopped once she was fully impaled on his cock. She gasped his name and arched her back, driving her mound up into his pelvis. The heat coming from Circe's core combined with her wetness was driving him mad with pleasure. She was obviously very skilled in using her magic in the bedroom.

Circe thanked the gods for the great idea of seducing Sladian before killing him. Now that she finally had Sladian's hard dick sliding in and out of her folds Circe found herself surprised at how good he felt. He felt so good stretching her soft insides around his thick shaft. She couldn't help but moan his name and push herself faster around his length.

Slade leaned down and roughly kissed her as he slid his hips back and forth between her spread thighs. Their auras clashed around them as they battled with each other for dominance. Slade was not about to submit to Circe so he hit her with the full force of his aura, causing hers to instantly capitulate and submit to him. Her core began to get wetter as his aura affected her, making it easier to thrust into her with strength.

As her thighs slid against her new lover's, Circe felt her arousal increase to greater heights than she had ever experienced before in her extremely long life. She worked her hips back and forth to slide her tight pussy along Sladian's hard length. Her walls gripped him tightly as she worked her internal muscles to bring him greater pleasure. In return she felt his cock throb inside of her before he picked up his pace. Circe cried out her approval as she felt one of her nipples being roughly sucked into his mouth, his tongue lavishing the sensitive hard bud with attention.

Slade continued to fuck Circe with all of the skill he possessed. If he was going to do this, he was going to enjoy every second as she worshipped his cock with her tight cunt. Slade gripped her perfectly round soft bum tightly in his hands as he thrust his shaft in and out of her tight snatch. Circe's every vaginal muscle worked on his entire length as it rubbed against her slick inner walls. His cock head pushed through her inner folds with a moan and gasp being garnered from her lips with every change of direction.

Circe gripped her lover's bum tightly in hands that could use magic to move mountains as she pulled him harder and faster into her burning insides. She cried as her orgasm hit her with the force of a hurricane. The self-made goddess buried her face in his neck and proceeded to kiss and nibble at his tender flesh. Sweat was now pouring off both their bodies as they slid their fronts together and Sladian didn't even slow down despite feeling her orgasm, prolonging it even more. Circe felt Sladian grunt and pant in her ear as she felt her nipples rubbing against his hard chest. His head hit her g spot with increasing frequency. Circe's response was to gasp his name as she clawed at his back.

"Oh Sladian…you fill me so well…I love having you inside of me…harder…make me yours," moaned out the red-haired beauty as she drove herself harder and harder onto his shaft.

Slade wanted her to orgasm one more time before he did and so started to thrust into her even faster and harder, causing Circe to moan wantonly. Slade was beyond glad he had the presence of mind to add silencing charms around his house or else the entire block would know what they were doing.

"In Magic's name!" cried Circe as her eyes flew wide in shock. She couldn't believe she was having another orgasm so quickly and before he had come even once. He truly was gifted.

Circe's cunt went wild around his hard shaft as she went through another orgasm. Slade buried himself in her channel and began to ejaculate his seed deep into her womb. Slade realized as he let loose that he forgot to use his magic to nullify his semen of its essence. He had lost himself so deeply due to his lust that he was now ejaculating his highly fertile cum into her highly fertile womb. Slade pulled out but already knew it was too late. The worst thing was that his lust still hadn't lowered and he was still hard as a rock.

Circe noticed and her eyes gleamed in appreciation. "Oh Sladian. More?" moaned Circe as she wrapped her hands around Sladian's hard cock. She wasn't done with him yet and she wanted him inside her again.

Slade growled as he cupped the nubile young woman's rear as she stroked his shaft. It didn't take her long to guide his shaft back to her vaginal entrance. Her vaginal lips slipped around his cockhead before her inner walls expanded once more to accommodate his shaft as it slid further and further into her welcoming snatch. Circe moaned her approval as her mound came to rest against his pelvis once more. Slade couldn't help but knead her lovely curvy rear as he pulled her harder against his body. Circe moaned into his mouth as she ground herself against him.

Circe had never been so stuffed full of cock as she was right then and loved it. It felt as if he had grown even bigger if that was possible and with magic it was. She felt the cold surface of a dirt floor against her back as Sladian started to thrust into her once more. She ran her hands down his strong muscled back and cupped her lover's hard tight butt as he slowly began to piston his shaft in and out of her channel. Circe took every stroke and thrust of his cock into her center with a moan, gasp, or grunt of pleasure. She welcomed her newest lover into her body with open arms and legs.

"Fuck my cunt Sladian…fuck it good…stuff me with your hot throbbing thick cock my lover," cried out Circe as Sladian drilled her wet hot hole.

God, while Circe may be a slut, she knew just what to say get his motor running.

Slade nipped down the red-haired beauty's jaw then to her neck. He suckled and nipped on her tender neck flesh to her moaning approval as he sawed his hips back and forth between her spread thighs. Circe's body felt fantastic against his own as her form consisted of soft flawless skin covering smooth tight muscles. She put some of those muscles to good use as her cunt squeezed and gripped his cock with every stroke through her depths. Circe twisted her hips deliciously to add a nice extra sensation to their coupling. Slade rewarded her with faster jabs into her soft cunt walls.

Circe had to admit that she was really getting the best fuck of her life so far and didn't think it could get much better. Once again she was proven wrong as she felt Sladian turn them around so she was on top. She was fully impaled on her lover with her mound pressingly tightly against his pelvis and her legs over his sides. Circe couldn't be happier as she purred her approval while grinding herself down harder on Sladian's body. Circe's juices running down on Sladian's body further signaled her enjoyment of Sladian's sex skills.

As Circe purred on top of him while running her hands down his chest, Slade thrust his hips upwards with short sharp jabs, jamming his cock into her impaled snatch. Circe closed her eyes to savor the sensations his cock was giving her. Placing his hands on her shoulders, Slade pulled the beauty down against him for a heated lip lock. Circe's hard nipples pressed against his chest as she rocked her hips back and forth to stretch her inner walls with his cock. His hands gripped her bum tightly as his dick slid through her wet and juicy cunt.

"Oh…oh…I feel so stretched and so deliciously filled…Sladian…shove your big cock deep in my pussy," gasped Circe as she thrust down onto his cock in order to hit deeper.

Circe decided to change positions once more as she sat up and brought her legs above Sladian's body and placed her feet flat on his chest. She reached back and gripped his upper thighs as she began working her hips up and down using the new leverage. She was able to get much faster speeds and control their coupling better as she squeezed his thick cock when it slid through her folds. Circe felt Sladian's cock push against her sweet spot more and more with every stroke. Circe began to breathe hard as she sped up her self-impalement feeling her orgasm fast approaching.

Slade watched sweat drip off of Circe's forehead which was created in concentration as she raced towards her orgasm. He watched that sweat slide down between Circe's breasts as they shook with every slap of her thighs against his abdomen. Reaching up, Slade began kneading her wonderful tits which got him a smile of lustful approval from Circe before her mouth returned to opening and closing slightly with nearly silent gasps of pleasure. Slade couldn't hold back any more and shot his load into her which caused her to orgasm as well. He was so lost in lust that he no longer gave thought to not impregnating her.

"Oh fuck yeah Sladian…fill my cunt with your hot seed…make me yours," screamed Circe as she felt his cock spurting his load in her cunt as she shook in orgasm.

Circe's cunt squeezed and grasped at his cock with a hard grip as her body quivered in delicious orgasmic release. As soon as she started to climax she had dropped her legs off his sides and leaned forward to hold tightly to him with her face buried in his neck. Her sex pulsed around his cock in time with his own dick throbs. Slade heard her tiny gasps and moans of approval directly into his ear as she continued to climax for some time.

The two came back down from their orgasm only to find that Sladian was still hard. He had one more load in him and Circe was determined to get it. Wanting to try out something she'd heard about, she got off him and got on her hands and knees. Turning her head to stare at her lover with lustful eyes, she gyrated her hips invitingly, telling him what she wanted.

Slade was at Circe's rear in seconds as her shapely bum wiggled before me. He had never done this before and the invitation was too much to pass up, especially with his dick hard and ready for another romp. The lust was slowly clearing but still not enough to stop himself from taking the invitation offered to him.

Gripping his cock, Slade pushed it between her firm butt cheeks until his cockhead was pressed at her asshole. Slade felt her tense for a moment before she forced herself to relax. Slade channeled his magic through his cock in order to lower the pain and heighten the pleasure as he began to push through Circe's virgin asshole. The guilty part of him already felt bad enough about basically cheating on Selene and had no wish to add causing Circe pain to his conscious.

Her crinkled star parted around his cockhead as it disappeared up her tightest hole. Circe moaned deeply as he began to work inch after inch of thick hard cock up her bum with a side to side motion.

Circe had difficulty accepting that she was getting her ass fucked for the first time by such a thick cock and by a man she was planning on killing in a month. She also had trouble believing that having something so large pushing through her previously tiny butt hole could feel so good. She purred her delight as her lover bottomed out in her rear. Circe pushed her hips back and ground her bum against her lover's pelvis. Turning her head she ravaged his mouth as they both adjusted to the sensations coursing through their lower halves.

Slade reached around and cupped Circe's tits as he hunched over her smooth back. Circe held still as he slowly started to rock his hips back and forth to drag his dick through her tightly grasping asshole. Her anal ring gripped his cock the entire trip through her sphincter as Circe consciously gripped him tighter to bring him more pleasure. He also felt her aiding his own magic in heightening her pleasure and numbing the slight pain the intrusion caused. The red-haired beauty willingly accepted him into her body with slow but steady deep penetrating thrusts. Soon her lovely bottom cheeks rippled from the force of his pelvis impacting her fleshy pillows after a full stroke of his length. Circe was putty in his hands as he fondled her breasts while sodomizing her bum and a dark part of him enjoyed having this previously cocky slut under his control.

Circe was really starting to enjoy her first anal fuck and decided to make it just a little bit better by reaching between her spread thighs and fingering her dripping cunt. When her fingers touched her lover's recently deposited load in her well fucked snatch Circe couldn't help but scoop up a healthy amount and bring it to her mouth. She marveled at the amazing taste of her lover's seed as he increased the rate of pounding against her rear when he realized what she had just done. His seed tasted as powerful as his magic did and Circe loved powerful men. Perhaps she should keep him as a pet instead of killing him. Circe certainly loved the feel of her lover's very thick and long cock plowing through her tight intestines and reaming out her guts.

Slade supported Circe as she braced herself with only one hand while the other shoveled his seed into her hungry mouth. When she was satisfied she had all of his seed from her snatch, Circe continued to finger her cunt. Holding her hips with only his left hand, Slade brought his right to her full soft breasts and pulled her so that she was no longer touching the floor and was held up by Slade alone. Slade pulled Circe once more so that she was now almost standing completely upright and turned her head to plunder her moaning mouth.

Circe was now truly feeling like she was in heaven as her lover pleasured her body. Sladian's hand working her tits, and on occasion rubbing her body, and his cock jabbing through her stretched rectum were all working together to bring Circe to a state of absolute bliss. When his lips began to massage her own with his tongue burying itself in her mouth Circe moaned lustfully into her lover's mouth. She wanted to return the favor of the pleasure he was giving her so Circe did her best to work his throbbing hot pole of meat as it pushed and pulled through her impaled butt. Circe shoved her rear back to meet Sladian's every deep thrust with greater and greater enthusiasm. No matter how hard she speared herself on Sladian's wonderful cock all she ever felt was more and more pleasure. Not caring if she would be sore for a month after her hard ass fucking Circe began employing some of her increased strength in her self-impalement on Sladian's throbbing spear.

Circe actually began lifting him up a bit with each shove back of her hips. Slade buggered her tight ass while working her body over with natural skill and countless sexual experiences with Selene over the past month.

"Oh shit Sladian…so deep and full…fill my ass with your tasty cum Sladian…I want to feel it spurting inside of me and then when you pull out I'm going to suck your dick clean before scooping that wonderful cum from my own ass and eating it! Make me your little anal slut," wailed Circe as her body glistened with sweat and her aura swirled with sexual energy.

Slade followed her urging as Circe's dirty hot words sent a surge through his balls. Showing mastery in the magical arts that not even Morwen could replicate, Slade channeled the sexual energy back into her body through his cock. Circe arched her back into him and began to climax with the most intense orgasm of her life to date. Her bowels violently rippled and shook with contractions that squeezed and released; milked and loved his throbbing cock as it pulsed with the transfer of burning hot semen. Circe was a puddle of pleasure in his arms as Slade held her shaking body to him. As soon as the orgasm passed, Circe fell asleep still anally impaled on his cock and experiencing residual tremors of orgasm.

Slade regained his breath and took out his finally soft cock from her ass and laid down on his back on the ground.

**Lemon end You can read now**

* * *

><p>It was as he regained his breath that the full consequences of what he had just done penetrated Slade's skull. He had just fucked his love's best friend. It didn't matter what she had said earlier about being okay with it. He had just cheated on the woman he loved!<p>

Slade's groan brought Circe out of dreamland and she got up groggily. She looked down and saw Slade covering his face with his hands and smirked as she realized what he must be thinking of.

'Sorry, darling. You're a great fuck and I might arrange a repeat this month but you gotta die.' thought Circe evilly. She had felt first-hand how powerful his magic was and knew he couldn't be made to bow, only killed.

Circe got dressed and picked up her cloak to cover herself before turning to a still naked Sladian with a smile on her lips. "That was wonderful, love. But next time, let's find a bed first."

At that, Slade got up and grabbed her left arm tightly and he gritted his teeth. "This... this was a mistake. It can never happen again, understand?"

Circe just gave him a false hurt look. "That's it? You sleep with me and make me risk my friendship with Selene and just toss me aside afterwards? I thought you were better than that."

Slade looked conflicted and Circe milked his sympathy by forcing tears to her eyes and ripping her arm out of his grip. She pretended to cry as she ran out of his house, in reality trying to contain her laughter at the look on his face.

Slade fell to his knees wondering how he was going to explain this to Selene.

* * *

><p><strong>The next day, Constantinople, 532 A.D.<strong>

Selene slowly walked toward Slade's house with a heavy heart.

Circe had come the day before with a cruel little smile and limping in obvious sexual gratification. The whore had then went on to lament on how an incredible fuck like him had to die and how she was planning on visiting him for another tumble in the sack. She then mocked Selene for being obviously unable to satisfy his needs if the sheer desire he showed her was any indication.

Selene had had to grit her teeth and not show how much the image of him and Circe hurt her. Only the knowledge that it had taken all of Nicodemus's considerable power to be able to affect his mind and his hellfire calmed her. Considering Slade said the mental arts weren't his strong suit, which said a lot about how powerful he must be in what he does consider his strong suits.

Selene had been unable to sleep that entire night, the thought that Circe might have wrapped him around her finger too much to bear. It was also in that moment that Selene came to a simple yet shocking conclusion.

Selene loved Sladian Invictus.

Selene loved Slade and she couldn't imagine living without him anymore.

Before him, Selene had been a cold, calculating woman who had become numb to the horrors she had perpetrated. Her only hope had been ascending to godhood in order to wipe the slate clean and fix all her mistakes. She hadn't allowed herself to get close to anyone, believing that everyone was just going to use and betray her and she had been proven right many times.

Then Slade came into her life.

He had been like a hurricane, destroying everything she had known and every illusion she had built about herself. Yet at the same time, he had found her beautiful. Not just physically but everything about her. He even found her cold and calculating side a turn on. He believed that she was a good person despite knowing she used dark magic.

He had given her his heart and in doing so, thawed Selene's own heart.

Selene had never felt as loved and happy as she had this month. Every day had been different and for once, she enjoyed not knowing what the next day held. Slade had gone out of his way to make sure he loved her every day even if it was corny or stupid.

For their first 'official' date (Selene still considered their first spar a date no matter what Slade said), Slade had taken her to the most expensive restaurant in the city followed by a walk around the city. He had eventually led her to a secluded park where he had given a cheeky smile and created about 20 balls of light that orbited around them. He had then asked her for a dance and they had danced in the middle of the park surrounded by balls of light to their own music. Selene had never laughed and smiled so much in her life.

It had been corny.

It had been stupid.

It had been so unbelievably romantic that she almost jumped him right there and then.

No one had ever gone so far for her as to make a fool of themselves just to make her laugh. Selene found that she enjoyed it a lot. As time passed, Slade had opened himself to her and she saw the part of him he used to be. It had been slow going to mesh 'Sladian' and 'Slade' back together but he had mostly done it. Selene found that she loved Slade's antics just as much as she had loved Sladian's strength.

For this reason, Selene had come to the conclusion that she couldn't let Slade be killed. She would rather die than return to the cold existence she had before he entered her life. A world without him wouldn't be worth living in, not even as a goddess.

For that reason, Selene was now walking toward Slade's house in order to tell him the truth about her past. Before she told him about Morwen's plan, he needed to know the truth about her. He deserved that much.

She also wanted to know whether he would confess to his indiscretion with Circe or would try to hide it. While she knew it wasn't his fault, she still needed to know what he would do.

Selene knocked on the door of Slade's house and waited for him to answer. After a minute, Slade opened the door looking like he hadn't slept a wink the night before. A pained look crossed his face at the sight of her and he wordlessly let her pass.

Selene was quiet as she followed him into the house until they reached the peristylium. Slade led her to a seat and despite having space beside her, he sat in another chair.

For a moment, Selene feared that he no longer loved her and was going to tell her he was going to leave her for Circe but it passed when he looked at her with pain in his eyes.

"Selene," started Slade hoarsely. "I've done something... horrible."

Knowing what he was talking about, Selene got up and sat beside him and held his hands despite him trying to pull them from her grip. "I know... Circe bragged about it last night. It wasn't your fault, l-"

"Yes, it was!" yelled Slade as he got off his seat and started to pace. "I-I slept with her, Selene! I fucked her right in this very garden which was our special place! It doesn't matter the circumstances, I betrayed you!"

Selene got up and grabbed his hands to stop his pacing. "Were you practicing with hellfire when she arrived?"

Slade flinched and nodded.

"Then it wasn't your fault. We both know what that does to you. Plus, Circe is good at using magic to seduce men. She's a whore through and through and she's had her eye on you since you met. I love you, Slade. It hurts to know it happened but it's no one's fault but my own for not being here to stop her." 'More than you know, love.' thought Selene with a grimace.

Slade stopped pacing and looked at Selene with hopeful eyes. "S-So... you don't want to break up with me? Despite the fact that I cheated on you?"

Selene smiled and kissed him gently. "No, love. Although you might not want to see me again when I tell you something."

Slade looked confused. "What?"

Selene grimaced and turned away from him so he couldn't see her face. "How old do you think I am?"

Thinking it was a trick question, Slade struggled to find the right answer. "Um... I don't know but you're still more beautiful than any other woman in the world."

Selene turned to him with a wry smile. "Nice save, love, but it wasn't a trick question. The truth is that... I'm around 15,000 years old. Give or take."

Slade froze and his eyes turned sharp as he studied her. 'Could she be the one holding the spell in place?' thought Slade. 'God, I hope not. I could never bring myself to kill her.' "Explain."

Selene grimaced and sat down as she began to speak. "I was born over 15,000 years ago in a small village far to the north, in what is now known as northern Gaul. It was called differently back then but I forgot what it was called. Anyway, when my mother got pregnant the village elder..." Selene gulped and refused to meet Slade's eyes. "... They said that I was a goddess and started making preparations."

Selene laughed bitterly. "The day I was born... I was barely an hour old when the elders induced my powers and sacrificed my mother to me. Just to clarify, my powers revolve around me 'feeding' off the life-force of other people. As long as I do this regularly, about once every few months minimum, I don't age and can maintain my health and beauty. I also absorb the victim's memories and see a glimpse of what their future would have been like if I hadn't entered their life. Most of them would have been happy." The last part she said with bitterness and Slade's eyes softened in slight pity before hardening once more. He would wait to pass judgement until the end.

Selene took a breath and continued. "The elders then kept sacrificing people of the village to me almost every day until by the time I was 5, everyone in the village was dead and I was alone." Selene bit back tears as she remembered that day. When at 5 years old, she walked through an empty village and realized she was completely alone.

"I was found by a kind man who took me in and raised me as my pseudo-uncle for 10 years. We lived in a village not far from my birth one and I was happy... for a time."

"As I hit my twelfth year, I started to mature into a woman. Men started to pay attention to me, women would look at me with envy. At the time, I was proud of my beauty and while I didn't flaunt it, I certainly didn't hide it."

"Unfortunately, my 'uncle' had noticed as well. At first, he just became more affectionate and caring towards me and I didn't even notice. Then he would want me to walk around the house in tighter, more revealing clothing, telling me to save the other clothes for special occasions and the cold. As the years passed, he became more possessive of me but I simply thought it was due to normal parental concern and fear of losing me. Other parents acted the same when their children turned my age so I thought it was normal.

"However, one day in my fifteenth year he came to my room during the night. He started to touch me in ways that bothered me and I tried to push him off but he wouldn't have it. When I slapped him he became aggressive and started to rip my clothes off. Once he did that, he started to undress himself and that's when I realized what he was going to do."

During the story, Slade had become stiffer until his eyes were chips of amber ice and his aura screamed anger. If Selene noticed, she didn't say anything and simply continued.

"I became so scared and terrified that my own uncle who had been more like a father to me was going to rape me that I reacted instinctively. I absorbed his life-force and killed him."

Selene took a deep breath and finished her story. "Since then, I've been killing people and absorbing their life-force to survive. Lately, I planned to do a ritual I got from the Darkhold where I would sacrifice upwards of a thousand people and absorb their life-force. This energy would be enough to ascend to godhood and become a goddess. That's my story more or less."

Slade was quiet for a moment before speaking in a soft voice. "Why are you telling me this?"

Selene turned away from him and tried to keep her voice neutral. "You deserve the truth. You deserve to know that I'm a monster. Hell, I even planned to sacrifice thousands to fulfill my ambitions to become a goddess."

Slade's eyes softened and he gently turned her around but Selene refused to meet his eyes. "And why did you want to become a goddess?"

Selene shrugged. "Isn't it obvious? Because I'm an ambitious monster who deserved all that's happened to me."

Slade studied Selene and had a sneaking suspicion as to what truly haunted her. "Selene, I'm not saying that it was right to kill all those people. But I don't think you're a monster for doing what you had to survive. During the war... my cohort came upon a village that had been supplying the enemy with Intel and shelter. We weren't enough to hold the village so we sent a message for back-up. Instead, we received orders to level the village and kill every man, woman and child."

Selene looked up at that and saw Slade looking into the distance with haunted eyes. As if seeing things only he could see.

"And we did it. We killed them. Every man, woman and child was put to the sword. And there's not a day that goes by that their screams don't haunt me. So tell me, does that make me a monster as well?"

Selene quickly shook her head. "No! You were just following orders!"

Slade smiled bitterly. "Just following orders... it's easy to hide behind that excuse. Many people do it in order to escape blame. But the fact of the matter is that every human being is imbued with free will. Nothing. Not nation. Not superior officer. Nothing can take that away. So in the end of the day, the orders may have come from them but I'm the one who held the sword."

Selene shook her head fiercely, angry that Slade could ever think himself a monster like her. "You had to! If you didn't you would have been killed for insubordination!"

"So would you," shot back Slade quickly. "You had to use your powers to survive. You didn't ask for your powers, you were born with them."

Selene smiled bitterly. "It's not the same. I've killed millions just to sustain my life! You never killed that many just to survive. You never killed your mother the day you were born." the last part was said under her breath as if hoping he couldn't hear.

However, Slade had heard and finally realized what had haunted her for millennia.

Slade gave Selene a pitying look as he forced her to look at him. "I don't know what it's like to have lived your childhood. I don't know how it would feel to know that you basically killed your entire village with your powers. However, there is one thing I do know."

Selene smiled sadly. "What's that?"

Slade looked her in eye so she could see his sincerity. "It wasn't your fault Selene."

Selene reeled back as if struck and gave a shaky smile. "I-I know."

Slade shook his head slowly as he walked toward her even as she kept stepping back. "No. No, you don't. Look me in the eye, Selene. Your mother's death, your village's death, your uncle's death... it wasn't your fault."

Selene kept stepping back as if scared of him even as she tried to keep a smile on her face. "W-What is this? I-I know that."

Slade was firm, however, and just kept walking toward her. "It wasn't your fault, Selene. Stop blaming yourself."

Selene was becoming frantic as her back hit the wall and couldn't get away anymore. "Stop it!"

Slade stepped into her personal space and whispered. "Look at me, Selene. It wasn't your fault."

Selene was almost sobbing as she looked at him. "P-Please, stop."

Slade brought her into a hug and whispered. "It's not your fault, Selene. Your mother loved you. You didn't mean to kill her. It wasn't your fault."

With that, Selene broke down sobbing. She didn't even know why she was crying only that she was. "B-But how could s-she love me? I killed her! If I hadn't been born it would have better for the entire world!"

Slade just shushed her and laid kisses on her neck. "No parent hates their child. Not really. Perhaps she would have lived if you hadn't been born. But I doubt that her last thoughts were negative to you in anyway."

Selene sobbed as she finally let herself remember her mother's death. Her power made it so she always remembered in perfect clarity every kill she'd made even at the age of an hour. She looked past the memory of the happy life her mother would have had if she hadn't been born and into what she could remember of her mother's last thoughts.

Slade was right. She had loved her. Even as Selene had absorbed her life-force and she was dying, she had loved Selene.

That knowledge, buried deep in her subconscious caused Selene to sob even harder. She cried for the curse she had been born with and the pain it had brought the world. She sobbed for her village, who paid for her elders' stupidity. She cried for all those people she had killed, some of which didn't deserve their fate.

And finally, she cried for herself. For her lost innocence that had been destroyed so young only to be followed by centuries of being betrayed by those she trusted. She cried for the fact that the only thing she had been able to trust till she met Slade had been her powers and how they were a double-edged sword. In the end, she cried for the life she had lived and how much damage she'd done both to herself and to the world.

* * *

><p><strong>One month later, Night of the Lunar Eclipse, early 532 A.D.<strong>

Circe waited impatiently for Selene to appear with Sladian as Morwen and Herpo stood behind the altar.

Circe was currently dressed in a black leotard-like number made of black leather with thin straps holding it up at her shoulders. Her breasts cups were made of a golden adamantine and were barely holding her breasts from spilling out. She also had adamantine vambraces and black gloves on. Her left hand was currently holding the hilt of an adamantine dagger on her left hip which was hanging off a red cloth belt wrapped around her waist. She had black boots on her feet and the same large red cloak she wore when she bedded Sladian. She had her hood up covering her red-haired head and had a scowl on her face.

Circe checked the position of the lunar eclipse once more before feeling her frustration mount. There was still half an hour before it started so Selene wouldn't show up with Sladian for a while. The plan was for Selene to cast a sleep spell on Sladian while he slept and bring him here. The fact that he had slept with her so often and trusted her would mean he wouldn't see it coming.

The ritual would take place in what was once Circe's island. The symbolism was important. As a ritual made to empower women, the ritual would be stronger and easier to cast in a place that once symbolized the same. It was also out of the way far to the south of the Mediterranean where ships rarely passed so there was no fear of discovery. They had the okay of the council to do this but it always helped to have a back-up plan just in case.

The island was around 32 square kilometers in size which was more than enough to conduct rituals in the middle of the island without being seen by the rare passing boat. It had been sold back to Circe around a millennia because the Empire didn't want to waste boats trying to maintain it. Circe had been insulted that she basically had been forced to buy back to her own island but had little choice in the matter.

Morwen saw Circe's frustration and sneered. "Will you calm down, Circe? I know you want to kill the guy for being smart and rejecting your whorish advances after your first time but your pacing isn't helping."

Circe snarled at the reminder. Slade had refused any more sexual encounters with her after their first time much to Circe's ire. The fact that he continued his relationship with Selene despite having tasted her sexual skills only made her anger worse. What did that bitch have that she didn't?

Abaddon rolled his eyes at Circe's ire and kept an eye on Magog and Namshiel. Abaddon host was the same as his first since unlike Anduriel, he had completely possessed his host. He had tricked his host into giving him full control of his body and since then, he had never been beaten. His host was a broad-shouldered man that looked to be in his 40s with silver hair and yellow eyes. They were originally brown but centuries of being possessed had turned them yellow. He was wearing full battle armor that was reminiscent of his old angelic armor only black in color and had his old angelic katana at his side. He had managed to recover it soon after he fell and he was glad for it.

His demonic form was a large black dragon that could spit lava and fly quite quickly. He could fight in his dragon form but never thought anyone was worthy of killing in that way. His human form was enough for anyone, especially with his angelic blade. Unlike Magog and Namshiel, he knew that his demon form was a last resort not a first. With that thought, Abaddon studied his compatriots with a sneer.

Namshiel latest host had already been completely possessed like his own but unlike him, Namshiel showed no finesse in doing so and his host was deformed. His latest host was still humanoid in shape, thankfully, gaunt, skeletal, and grey-skinned. He has curved, very pointy spurs of bone jutting out from every joint. His hair was greasy and lanky hanging from his knobby skull. He has two pairs of eyes: the human pair were brown, while the demon pair above them were glowing green. He was wearing a loose robe that would allow him to cast spells easily. He was currently checking his wand and other magical artifacts in case of the ritual going south and them needing to step in to kill the brat.

Magog's host was a bald, dark-skinned man who was once a slave and now willingly served as Magog's host. Abaddon thought they were both quite similar: dumb, quick to anger and freakishly strong. He was only wearing some pants to cover his modesty and was currently flexing his muscles in anticipation of a fight.

Abaddon turned an eye to the 8 traitorous council members who were on the other side of the altar. They were talking amongst themselves as if they were simply attending a party and had no care in the world. They acted as if Sladian was already dead and they were just going through a formality.

'While I scoff at their arrogance I can't say they don't have reason to think so,' thought Abaddon grudgingly. 'With everyone here, there's no way for him to leave alive even if the ritual fails.' Abaddon watched Morwen from the corner of his eye and grimaced. 'Plus, the Chaos Witch could probably make short work of him alone.'

Abaddon had reason to believe so. The lunar eclipse increased Morwen's powers and every single one only made her a little bit stronger after it passed. She would then reinforce her dimensional trap spell that much more. At any time she could cut the connection between the Fallen and their coins and trap them back in the Pit with hardly a care. It was this, more than anything that made the Fallen wary of her.

Even without that though, Morwen was too powerful to beat using human hosts. Perhaps if they trained their human host bodies for a millennia or two they would be able to match her current level but by then, she would have far eclipsed her current power. The fact that she was completely immortal as far as they knew only made things worse.

'See, Father?' thought Abaddon angrily. 'This is why you should never have given humanity so much potential power. Cockroaches like these will always misuse them. They're nothing more than evolved apes and unworthy of the potential they hold.'

As Abaddon brooded on his Father's decisions, Morwen smirked as she felt her power slowly rising.

Morwen was currently dressed in her high priestess clothing which consisted of a blue number with red accents that was tight-fitting all around her body and a blue cloak hanging off her back. She also had on a strange golden helmet that covered her chin and had two horns on top shaped much like a beetle's. Her black hair was loose around her shoulders since the helmet didn't force her to put it inside.

Herpo turned to Morwen with a lustful smile as he took in the sight of Morwen in her high priestess robes. The clothing was tight to her body, especially around the chest and highlighted that while a cruel bitch, Morwen was a woman in every way that mattered.

"Dear Morwen. Perhaps after these festivities we could… Retire for the night together? I'm sure you need to help to relax after such a stressful two months." said Herpo in what he probably thought was a charming voice but sounded more like a dying cat's yowls.

Morwen scowled and glared at the man. "If I need companionship for the night I'd get a slave and ride him all night while peeling his skin off and listening to his screams. Unless, of course, you wish to take his place?"

Herpo grimaced and scowled. "No thank you, milady. I'll just content myself with a few temple priestesses I picked up earlier. They're virgins and we both know how valuable virgin blood is."

Morwen returned his cruel smile as she chuckled at his words. While she despised the man and would never take the man for a lover, she had to admit that she liked the way he thought. If he was more handsome like say, Sladian, she might even make him her consort... For a while at least. She'd probably grow bored of him after a century and kill him but he should be honored for the chance either way.

Morwen felt herself grow wet at the thought of riding a slave while peeling his skin off. While she said it in the spur of the moment, she had to admit the idea was appealing. She would file it away for another day. For now, it was almost time for the lunar eclipse.

Circe had been growing angrier as time passed until finally the lunar eclipse started. Green fires were lit in the braziers and everyone waited for the guest of honor to appear.

With a flash of light, Selene appeared holding an unconscious Sladian tied up with only a pair of shorts covering his modesty. She was currently dressed in full armor that Circe hadn't seen before. It was black in color with the breastplate having a red moon etched in the middle if her stomach. She had shoulder pauldrons but had the skin from her shoulders to her gloves covered in black leather of some kind instead of metal. The bottom half had a metal skirt but chainmail leggings instead of armor plating. She had a jokoto (which was as an ancient form of katana) in a scabbard on her left hip that had a cloth-wrapped tang for her to grip.

All in all, it made her look intimidating and reminded them that while everyone here was strong, Selene had been around for far longer and had survived during Salome's rule. Something no one here could boast.

Circe just scowled at the sight of her although she did take a step back. "What took you so long?! We thought you weren't going to come at all!"

Selene scowled as her eyes flashed in anger, causing Circe to take another step back. "There was no reason to come before the eclipse. It lasts six hours so we have plenty of time. Coming earlier just risked him waking up before we were ready."

Circe looked as if she was going to retort but Morwen cut in. "Whatever. Just place him in the binding circle and get in your place. We'll wake him up and finish the ritual. I have better things to do than listen to you two bicker."

The two women feel silent although they continued to glare at each other as Selene dragged Sladian to the circle before unceremoniously dropping him inside. The circle glowed and signaled the fact that it had successfully suppressed his magic and had him trapped within the circle. Selene then stood in a circle to the right of Sladian's while Circe stood to his left.

Morwen pointed to Sladian and incanted, "Suscitatio" causing Slade to wake up.

Slade groaned as he woke up and looked around him. "Great. Another bunch of idiots trying to kill me. You'd think they'd learn."

Morwen smirked and nodded to Herpo. While Herpo started to chant in an ancient forgotten language, Morwen started her part of the ritual, "We are here to-"

"I'm sorry," interrupted Slade. "But I have to say one thing. I'm giving you all one chance to surrender and I promise to not kill you. Rough you up, certainly. But I won't kill you."

A council member covered in a cloak so you couldn't identify him spoke angrily, "Such arrogance! We have you trapped here and you presume to give us terms?! I will enjoy your death."

Slade just looked bored and cocked an eyebrow. "So I guess that's a no? Fine then. I was hoping not to ruin my night but let's go."

Morwen scowled and proceeded with the ritual. "We are here on the night of the lunar eclipse, most sacred night of Chaos, to try Sladian Invictus with the charge of adultery against his wife Selene with the sorceress Circe. We summon Magic itself to judge him. While he may have been unknowing of his marriage to Selene, he knowingly betrayed their relationship with Circe. How does magic find you?!"

Slade's face was neutral as the air grew heavy from the presence of magic. It took the form of green mist as it circled Slade in judgement. Eventually the fires in the braziers turned red, signaling his guilt.

Morwen smiled maliciously in triumph and turned to Selene. "We leave the punishment for his betrayal to his wife Selene. Meanwhile, we, the court, will judge Circe. As punishment she must wear a necklace marking her as a lover to an adulterer for a week so that all may know her crime."

Slade wanted to cry out bias but knew it was useless and stupid. Of course they were biased.

Selene pulled out her jokoto and turned to Slade with shaky steps. Slade just turned to her without expression as everyone looked on.

As Selene looked into Slade's eyes, she remembered the conversation they had the day after he slept with Circe.

* * *

><p><strong>Flashback<strong>

As Selene stopped crying, she stepped back and Slade kissed her tears away, drawing a giggle from her lips. The two kissed sweetly for a while before Slade spoke.

"Love, I need to know. Are you the one who cast the spell keeping the Vishanti away?"

Selene grimaced and shook her head. "No and that leads me to something else I need to tell you."

Slade cocked an eyebrow and listened as Selene explained in a low tone Morwen's plan to kill him and her and Circe's part in it. She explained how they had been ruling the magical world from the shadows ever since Morwen cast the spell and how they planned to kill him so that he wouldn't become a threat.

At the end, Slade was pacing in front of Selene while thinking furiously about the situation. He thought of attacking prematurely but discarded the idea. He couldn't risk innocents getting in the way and if he did attack first there was a chance Morwen and Circe could escape and say he attacked them without provocation. They would then adapt their plans in ways he couldn't predict and he didn't want to spend his life looking over his shoulder. They were resourceful and treacherous and he couldn't underestimate them.

That left only one course of action and it would take another leap of faith.

"Okay. Then we'll play along with them for now. When the time comes for the ritual, they'll all be in one place and that's when we'll strike."

Selene looked at him with wide eyes at his words. "B-but, they'll never let you walk right in! The ritual is going to be on Circe's old island home in the Mediterranean. No one can find it unless invited! You'd have to come in unconscious and bound for you to get in!"

Slade nodded grimly and took hold of Selene's shoulders. "And that's where you come in. You'll play along as well and knock me out before bringing me to them. They won't suspect anything if you go in fully armored since I imagine they'll be the same. When the time comes for you to decide my fate then you can free me and we'll cage them on the island and take them out permanently."

Selene looked at her husband with wide eyes at his plan. "I-I just finished telling you that I helped plan it! That I tricked and betrayed you and you... you trust me to do this? You're not angry at me?"

Slade smiled grimly once more. "Oh, I'm angry. But it's less than it would be if you hadn't said anything or hadn't said anything until the last minute. You told me a month in advance showing that you truly care for me and giving me time to get ready. You wouldn't have told me if you hadn't already made your choice. So yes, I trust you."

Selene looked lost as she spoke. "B-but what if you're wrong? What if I betray you again?"

Slade's eyes softened and he gave Selene a gentle kiss. "You won't. You know why?"

"Why?" asked Selene softly.

Slade smiled lovingly as he answered. "Because you're my wife and I love and trust you. While the way we married may not be conventional, it doesn't mean I won't honor it. You're my wife now. This is your chance for a fresh start. Once this is over, it'll be me and you forever Selene. I promise. You're different from Circe and Morwen."

Selene bit her lip. "How do you know that?"

Slade smiled. "Because unlike them, you want to be better. Prove that my trust isn't misplaced, Selene. I know you can be better."

**Flashback end**

* * *

><p>Selene stood with her jokoto hovering over her head poised to cut Slade in half as he stared at her with loving eyes. Even with the chance of her killing him, he still looked at her with love in his eyes.<p>

Circe scowled at Selene's indecision and harshly spoke. "What are you waiting for, Selene? Kill him!"

"Yes, kill him!" agreed Morwen joyfully. "Kill the upstart and I'll-we'll continue to rule for millennia to come!"

Selene closed her eyes as the chants of 'kill him!' sounded through the island. During the entire time, Slade didn't say a word and just looked at her with the same loving gaze before he spoke quietly yet still loud enough for her to hear.

"It's your choice, Selene. It's always been your choice. You're better than this. I know you are."

Selene froze as everything that had happened in her life flashed before her eyes. She saw the loneliness, the pain, and the betrayal that had been inflicted on her and by her. The last thing she saw were the times with Slade and his loving smile.

"I love you, Slade. I'm sorry for everything," said Selene as a tear left her eye. With a yell, she slashed down with her jokoto...

….. Cutting right through Slade's shackles and damaging the binding circle drawn in the ground below his feet, causing it to short out.

With a yell, Selene used the momentum of the swing to continue the slash and cut the head off an unfortunate council member who had been standing too close.

The moment he was free, Slade let loose a powerful shockwave of his power as a pitch black aura with dark purple on the edges encompassed him. When his aura died down, he was now dressed in black armor with a breastplate that had the Sumerian symbol for Warrior etched onto it in royal red, silver vambraces and shoulder pauldrons, chainmail leggings and black boots. Under the armor, he had a purple long-sleeved shirt that ended in black gloves and black pants under the chainmail leggings. It was all finished off by a black cloak with dark amber trim with the Sumerian symbol for Arcane on the back. He had Líthi in his right hand with the tip of blade pointing down as he leaned on it slightly and Yamato in its scabbard on his right hip while Mir while on his left. The belt holding both Yamato and Mir had the symbol of both his fathers, Dr. Strange and Inanis on the buckle, proclaiming his heritage to the world.

All in all, Slade looked every bit the warrior the symbol on his chest proclaimed him to be.

Before they could recover from the shock of Selene's betrayal and his show of power, Slade slammed his hands on the floor while incanting, "Hachigyo Sogai!"

Instantly, a slightly transparent blue wall rose all along the shoreline surrounding the island. When it reached a mile into the air, the walls seemed to incline slightly to each other until they joined together forming a square shaped barrier with a four-sided triangle at the top, trapping everyone inside. Slade then drew Yamato and combined it with Líthi, creating the o-katana version of the combination that had silver chains wrapped around his right arm up to his shoulder.

At this point, the shock had worn off and everyone but Selene had gathered a few yards in front of Slade ready to fight. Selene walked to stand beside him and got into a stance as she glared at Circe and Morwen, the former more than the latter.

Morwen glared at Selene with hate and betrayal in her eyes. "You betray us, Selene?! You betray me?!"

Selene just scowled. "Please! Don't act so surprised! I know for a fact that you were planning on betraying me soon. You were just waiting till you were strong enough to beat me and keep up your little spell. Plus," Selene turned to Slade with a loving gaze which he returned. "I love him. A world without him is not worth living in."

Morwen's eyes glowed red in rage at her answer. "SO BE IT! DIE ALONGSIDE YOUR LOVE!"

Herpo stepped forward with an arrogant smirk. "Let me deal with traitor and the riffraff, milady. I summon you, Ahktar!" The last part had been said in what Slade recognized as parseltongue.

Suddenly, the snake head at the top of his staff started to come alive. It slithered out of his staff as if coming out of a tube and as it did, it grew to huge proportions. By the time it was done it was about sixty feet in length and had turned a deadly green color that reminded Slade of the killing curse.

As Slade's eyes moved up the snake's length, Selene covered them before he could look the snake in the eyes. "Don't look in its eyes, Slade! That's a Basilisk! Their stare means instant death if you look them in the eye!"

Herpo laughed cruelly. "Yes! And that's not all! My Ahktar's skin is impervious to magic and his venom is deadlier than anything in the world. Nothing can beat my pet!"

Beneath his closed eyelids, Slade rolled his eyes at the man's arrogance. With his eyes still closed, Slade quickly drew a rune in the air and incanted, "Deki!"

Instantly, the Basilisk froze while forced to look up with a red aura surrounding it as the rune Slade had drawn appeared on its belly. Before anyone could react to the supposedly impervious to magic Basilisk being paralyzed, Slade muttered something under his breath and flashed away only to reappear in the same spot a second later.

All was quiet as everyone wondered what had happened before something fell off the still frozen Basilisk. Herpo looked down and saw it looked like a chunk of the Basilisk.

Like a stack of dominoes, this triggered a cascade reaction as the Basilisk literally fell into bloody pieces all around the enemies' feet. Slade had taken special care to burst the Basilisk's eyeballs so they wouldn't cause any damage.

Herpo froze in shock for a second before completely losing it at the sight of his pet being killed so easily. "AHKTAR! I'LL KILL YOU!" He was almost foaming at the mouth in rage and it was slightly comical to Slade.

Slade gave him a mocking smirk and got into a ready stance beside Selene who was also in her ready stance. "Come and try."

Herpo teleported toward him in fairly slow speeds and Slade took advantage of this to summon black void flames around his blade and toss them in Herpo's general direction.

Herpo dodged it and smirked. "That missed by miles, Invictus. I can't believe so many feared you!"

Slade just smirked. "Wasn't aiming for you."

Herpo looked behind him and saw that the flames had landed in front of Morwen group. The attack created an immense wall of flame, which surrounded Morwen and those close to her before forming a huge contained sphere of void flame, preventing escape. Within the barrier with Morwen were Abaddon and Circe who had been standing close to Morwen at the time.

Slade smirked. "Now things will be a little more even. Selene, take care of the snake bastard and that Fallen beside him while I take care of the rest."

Selene winked at him. "You got it." She turned into shadow and the 'puddle' of shadow then dashed toward Herpo at speeds rivaling Wanda's brother, Pietro.

Slade then turned to his enemies which consisted of one of the Fallen and 7 corrupt council members. "Well, since you all already gave up the chance to surrender, do me a favor." Slade gave them a vicious grin. "Don't die too easily."

* * *

><p><strong>Within the barrier of flames<strong>

Morwen scowled at the barrier surrounding them. "Does this fool think a simple barrier of black-colored flames can keep us trapped for more than a second?"

Morwen channeled chaos magic into her left hand and was about to swat the barrier of flames aside when Abaddon grabbed her arm, stopping her.

"Don't," cautioned Abaddon. "This isn't a barrier of normal flames."

Morwen scowled and pulled her arm from his grip. "What do you mean, you overgrown bird?"

Abaddon gripped the hilt of his sheathed katana in anger at her insult and the casual way she said it before calming down. "Those aren't normal flames and I don't just mean because of their color. I can tell since my powers revolve around fire and flames."

Circe, for once thinking with her brain, looked at the flames in trepidation and took a step back from them. "So what's so special about them?"

Abaddon looked at the flames surrounding them with a calculating and slightly fearful eye. "First, I must explain something. Both the soulfire that normal angels wield and the hellfire that the Fallen wield are derivatives of a greater flame."

Abaddon seemed to become lost in thought as he stared at the royal red flames as he continued to speak. "Soulfire is a spiritual derivative of the original flames that only the One Above All can wield. It's weaker than the original but it's powerful enough to make even a normal angel on par with most gods. When we Fall, we lose access to those flames. Lucifer created his own version and we copy it. This is known as hellfire and it could be said that while soulfire is the spiritual derivative of Father's flames then hellfire is the physical."

Abaddon came back to himself as he glared at the flames with hate, fear and a bit of envy. "We used to think only He could wield those flames. However, when he ended the First War he told us all something and that was that there was a flame as old as his, wielded by who would one day be able to wield his flames and with it, tear asunder the rules of fate."

Abaddon turned to Morwen and Circe with a serious look in his eyes. "Since then, we have called those royal black flames, the Flames of The Void."

Circe's eyebrows furrowed. "So... these royal black flames are the Flames of The Void? What's so special about that? I understand that the flames are special but what does it mean?"

Abaddon snarled. "You wouldn't understand. Just understand that he must die at ALL costs. We cannot allow him to live and get any stronger. Luckily, from what I can sense he still hasn't mastered these flames or we'd be trapped here for eternity unless he let us out. The flames will die down in half an hour, less if we release our auras to battle the aura of the flames."

Morwen scowled and released her aura along with Circe and Abaddon. "Fine. You could've just said we couldn't bypass the flames. I didn't ask for a history lesson. Void or no Void, nothing's changed. Sladian is going to die tonight."

Abaddon stayed quiet and simply planned on how to kill Sladian as quickly as possible.

* * *

><p><strong>Selene vs Herpo and Magog<strong>

Herpo growled at Selene as she turned to shadow and escaped his snake binding spell. It was a spell created by him that transfigured the earth beneath the target into snakes that bound the target. Unfortunately, Selene had the tendency of turning into shadow and escaping every time she was in a tough spot.

It didn't help that that idiot Magog only attacked like a wild animal and with no sense of strategy. Selene had managed to trick him into running into the path of one of Herpo's spells more than once and the result was that Magog could now only use one arm thanks to a bone breaker curse.

Herpo snarled and started to cast a barrage of curses at Selene from his staff, causing her to dodge or turn a part of her body to shadow temporarily. This annoyed him because it reminded him of that bastard, Invictus' ability to phase through attacks like nothing.

'Like bastard, like whore,' thought Herpo angrily. He teleported toward Selene swinging his staff, trying to catch her off guard but she moved at speeds that he couldn't follow for a second, making him miss.

Selene dodged Herpo's swing and absently noticed the ground where the staff struck exploded in flames. Smiling evilly, Selene manipulated the flames to hit Herpo but cursed when he instantly created a shield to defend himself.

Selene stood back to create a plan of action.

'I can't keep this up forever.' thought Selene seriously. 'While I technically can keep this up until they make a mistake, Circe and the others will escape before then.' Selene watched the black flame barrier from the corner of her eye and noticed that the flames were slowly but surely failing. 'I have to go on the attack. I'll get rid of that overgrown ape first and then take on Herpo alone. I have to save my strength for Circe. That whore is going to pay for bedding my husband!'

Selene watched Herpo berate Magog for supposedly getting in the way and smiled as a plan came to mind.

"You, ugly!" called Selene. She smirked when Magog turned to her. "He's right. Why don't you go back home and suck on your master's cock. God knows you're useless for anything else."

Magog yelled in rage at her mockery and dashed at her with impressive speeds.

Selene stayed still and dodged Magog's respectably fast punches while slowly turning her back to Herpo. Selene smiled as she felt Herpo take the bait and send a Killing Curse at her from behind.

Selene instantly turned to shadow, letting the Killing Curse fly through her and hit Magog right in face.

Magog flew back at being hit by the Curse and landed in a heap close to the barrier holding Circe and the others and lay unmoving. Selene smiled as she saw the body turn back to an average-looking dark-skinned man and the Denarian's coin fall out of the man's cloak. Selene knew better than to pick it up so left it there for later retrieval.

Selene then turned her sights to Herpo and gave him a mocking smile. "Thanks for that Herpy. He was getting rather annoying."

Herpo just scowled at having missed her, showing no remorse for killing his ally. "Whatever. He was in the way anyway. Now I can kill you without interruptions!"

With that, Herpo threw his head back before throwing it forward and releasing a multitude of snakes from his mouth, all of them slithering to Selene trying to kill her.

Selene could only think of one thing. 'That's disgusting!'

* * *

><p><strong>Slade vs Namshiel and 7 corrupt council members... well, 5 now<strong>

Slade cursed as he was forced to make his body intangible once more in order to phase through a barrage of earth spears from two council members.

He had managed to kill 2 council members who underestimated his speed early in the fight but the others had quickly spread out to avoid him since.

Their strategy was good in theory. They were spread out around him so if he tried to attack one, the others would attack him when his back was to them. He had to be tangible in order to attack so if he turned intangible, his attack would fail and if he didn't they would land a hit. The Fallen had been the one to make the strategy and Slade had to admit it was a good one. That Fallen was smart to quickly notice that flaw in Slade's ability.

While Slade could easily break the stalemate, he didn't want to waste too much magic on these small fries considering Morwen and the other two were waiting in the wings. If he did, he would have a much harder time dealing with them when they eventually escaped.

As Slade dodged another attack, an idea came to him. He noticed that ever since they noticed their strategy working, they hadn't moved from their spots. An amateur mistake and one Slade was going to exploit.

Slade dodged another attack and landed in the middle of the 'circle' before stabbing his o-katana into the ground. Nothing seemed to happen for a moment and the council members let their guard down. That was a mistake because silver chains suddenly burst from the ground and wrapped themselves around the council members from head to toe. The only one fast enough to dodge it was Namshiel and that was only because he hadn't let his guard down like the others.

Slade pulled his sword out of the ground, showing that the chains were linked to the tip of his blade as he pulled it out. Slade grabbed the chains and smirked at the bound council members. "You know, for being the so-called 'strongest mages in the Empire' you guys really suck."

With that final taunt, Slade made spikes grow along the length of the chains before pulling them harshly. The result was the bound council members being shredded apart as the spikes that had impaled them pulled on their skin as they were pulled, killing the council members and rendering their bodies unrecognizable.

Slade didn't blink at the carnage he created. It had taken the entire two months to come to grips with both his 'Slade' and 'Sladian' personas. It was only thanks to Selene that he was able to accept that they were both him and that having them separated was bad for him. Slade had been against killing people and hated it with a passion. Sladian had been a ruthless, cold killer who trusted no one and nothing. When he had mixed them together, he became what he was now. He hated killing and would prefer not to but wouldn't back down when he had to. Those council members were corrupt and no doubt wanted him dead due to having committed crimes that he would have killed them for. They didn't deserve mercy and he didn't have time to show it anyway. They had rejected his offer of clemency anyway.

Slade made the chains disappear and turned to Namshiel who was staring at Slade in grudging respect. "I have to admit. That was a good plan to create on the fly. I didn't know you could create chains out of your magic using your sword as a medium. Still, I have eons of experience and I have completely possessed this body. You don't stand a chance."

Slade just smirked. "Let's see about that."

With that, Slade dashed toward Namshiel with his sword trailing behind him. Every time Namshiel sent a spell at him using his wand or blasting rod, Slade would turn intangible and phase through it.

However, Slade was forced to dodge when Namshiel summoned black threads and his instincts screamed at him to dodge them. Slade obeyed and watched as the threads landed on the floor to no apparent effect. However, Slade's senses told him what happened and his eyes widened slightly.

Namshiel grinned evilly. "You noticed my threads' ability, huh? They negate any magic they touch, included whatever it is you're using to phase through my spells."

Slade narrowed his eyes and started to dodge as he studied the threads every time Namshiel conjured them. They had to have some weakness and Slade would find it.

* * *

><p><strong>Selene vs Herpo<strong>

Selene cursed as she was forced to use her pyrokinesis to burn another wave of snakes. She was using more energy than she wanted to in order to beat this waste of space and it was annoying her. However, Selene didn't have much choice. Herpo just kept sending wave after wave of snakes at her either from his mouth (which was still very disgusting) or by transfiguring nearby boulders into a multitude of snakes and ordering them to attack her.

Selene couldn't turn to shadow since it required having a shadow near her to work. While her own shadow worked, it would quickly disappear once the snakes covered the ground, therefore covering any and all shadows. Selene was forced to burn them since she also couldn't risk too many of them being alive at once. They would quickly overwhelm her if she let them. The snakes were also immune to her telepathy, Herpo's parseltongue overriding any telepathic order she tried to give. It didn't help that when he wasn't conjuring more snakes he was sending barrages of bone breakers and entrails expelling curses at her.

Suddenly, Herpo stabbed his staff in front of him and a green circle appeared surrounding his staff. From the center where his staff was located darker green lines extended from the staff to the edge of the circle before shooting off toward Selene.

Selene cursed as she used her speed to dodge the barrage of spells coming at her faster than before. From the explosions they left when they landed, Selene could only deduce that they were a variation of the Killing Curse.

Selene growled at the way the fight was going. It looked like she would have to stop holding back so much or else the others would escape before she was done and that was the last thing she needed.

Selene summoned a thin sheen of fire to surround her and her jokoto and dashed toward Herpo at her maximum speed while dodging his spells, wanting to end this once and for all.

Herpo barely had time to open his eyes before Selene stabbed him through the chest. Selene thought it was over for a second but then Herpo's mouth extended grotesquely and a clone of Herpo jumped out of his mouth, the only difference being this one had a snake tail on his lower half, leaving nothing but skin impaled on her sword.

Selene had a grimace of disgust on her face at the spell. "What the hell was that? I know you love snakes but that's taking things a bit too far, don't you think?"

Herpo just chuckled evilly. "I'm the ultimate snake, the white snake. And like the white snake I am immortal, only shedding skins as I grow even stronger!"

Selene shuddered in disgust. "I've never been so glad to have fallen in love with Slade. Now I never have to deal with freaks like you ever again."

Herpo glared at her. "You were great and that man ruined you! You could have had anyone in the world, even me and you threw it away for him simply because he was good in bed."

Selene glared at him with extreme disgust marring her features. "Get over yourself! No one would want you! You're disgusting and vile and considering some of the things I've seen that's saying something!"

Herpo glared at her in incoherent rage. "Fine then. It's time to die whore! You cannot win! My life-force is tied to my horcrux and as long as it exists I will live forever!"

Selene suddenly smiled and said in a sing-song voice, "You shouldn't have said that!"

Selene used her maximum speed once more and grabbed Herpo's face before he could react. Herpo started to scream as Selene absorbed his life-force, aging him slowly as she fed and returned to full power. Selene noticed that despite losing his life-force, Herpo was still not dying. Probably due to his soul being tied to his horcrux.

Knowing what she had to do, Selene searched for the mental link between Herpo and his horcrux and cut it using her telepathy. The moment she did, Herpo yelled out in pain as he felt his horcrux be destroyed now that it was no longer linked to him.

Selene had realized that horcruxes worked as a reservoir of extra life-force when the person died. That way, the soul would be tied to the earth due to their still existing life-force and they would use that to recreate a new body. However, this required a mental connection between the person and his horcrux to maintain the life-force or else it would fade away. With Selene sucking away at his life-force, it lowered his mental barriers enough for her to slip in and cut the connection, destroying the horcrux.

Now that she was at full power and not wanting to suck anymore of the vile man's life-force, Selene used her superior strength and tossed Herpo toward the barrier of royal red flames. The moment Herpo touched the flames, his body instantly started to disintegrate and Herpo yelled in pain as the flames burned not only his body, but his soul as well. This was just in case Selene's gamble on his horcrux didn't work and because she didn't want to think of that monster existing anywhere in the universe, not even Hell.

Herpo's body and soul were consumed by the flames and Selene smiled in satisfaction. The smile dropped, however, when the barrier of flames dispersed in an explosion of power, revealing the three titans of strength waiting behind them.

Morwen smirked at Selene superiorly. "Thank you, Selene. The flames burning that bastard's body and soul wasted the last of their power and made them drop earlier than normal. You're such a help."

Selene grimaced but felt herself smile when she felt Slade land beside her.

* * *

><p><strong>Earlier, Slade vs Namshiel<strong>

Slade was studying the threads every time Namshiel conjured them when he got too close and was starting to realize the nature of the things.

The threads didn't so much negate magic as disrupt it. The effect was similar in effect but different in how they went about it. Negating magic was similar to absorbing the magic of what it touches, therefore causing it to fail due to lack of power. Disrupting it meant scattering the magical wavelengths that a spell worked on, therefore causing it to fail due to lack of stability. Same effect, different methods and that made all the difference.

Slade once again dashed at Namshiel, his sword trailing behind him and like he suspected, Namshiel sent another magic-disrupting thread net at him. Slade instantly activated his Kamui and created a wormhole in front of the net, sucking it in. Another wormhole appeared behind Namshiel and the magic-disrupting net shot out of it and hit Namshiel.

Namshiel yelled in shock at being hit by his own spell and that gave Slade the opening he needed to appear behind Namshiel so fast he left an afterimage and impaled his heart from behind.

"Your threads don't negate magic, just disrupt it," said Slade to the dying Namshiel. "However, temporary dimensional wormholes made by Space-Time magic can't be disrupted since the magic does nothing but open the wormhole and disrupting it won't close it after its been opened. The same applies to the exit portal since they open simultaneously."

Namshiel gurgled something before finally dropping like a puppet with its strings cut. Slade pushed the corpse off his blade, making it land on the floor. Slade then cleaned his blade with a flick of his hand and turned to see how Selene was doing.

Slade turned in time to see Selene throw Herpo into his void flame barrier and his eyes widened as he felt the barrier start to fail. Slade dashed to Selene's side and landed beside her just as Morwen finished her little speech.

"Yeah, yeah, we get it," said Slade dismissively. "You're a queen bitch and you don't like it when other bitches decide to stop being a bitch. I understand you feel inferior to them because they are everything you want to be but try to control your jealousy, will you?"

Morwen glared at Slade with hate in her eyes even as Abaddon and Circe chuckled a bit at his comment. "You. Will. Die. Do you understand, boy? I was willing to let it be quick and painless but you've annoyed me for the last time. Now I'll kill you slowly over decades as I disintegrate you, piece by piece."

Slade looked at Morwen with a look of realization. "I understand now... You're on your period!"

Morwen's right eye twitched in rage as beside Slade, Selene didn't know whether to laugh or deck him for the statement.

Slade smirked as he saw Morwen start to lose her cool and moved in for the kill. "I mean... those periods must be extra hard to go through considering you've been a virgin for over 13,000 years. It doesn't help that you look your age. Is that a wrinkle?"

Morwen screamed in rage and charged at him with her hands channeling Chaos magic. Beside her, Circe charged at Selene with a snarl on her face which Selene returned as they a fair distance away in order to have their fight. Abaddon had drawn his sword and decided to engage Slade as well.

* * *

><p><strong>Slade vs Abaddon and Morwen<strong>

Slade grunted as he blocked the chaos sword Morwen had created out of her magic and dodged back to avoid being skewered by the one she created in her other hand. Slade quickly blocked a downward slash from Abaddon while using his free hand to blast Morwen back to give himself from space.

Unfortunately, the hit from Slade knocked Morwen from her rage and cleared her head so she could think clearly. Scowling slightly, Morwen created a bow out of pure chaos magic and smiled evilly as she started to shoot arrow after arrow made of chaos magic at Slade whenever she had the chance.

Slade cursed internally as he was forced to stay close to Abaddon in order to avoid the chaos arrows being launched at him at almost impossible to track speeds. The fact that she seemed capable of launching 3 arrows a second and seemed to be doing it casually was worrying.

Abaddon locked swords with Slade once more and grinned evilly. "You know one truth about the universe, boy?"

Slade grunted as he tried to stand up to Abaddon's superior strength. "What's that?"

Abaddon's blade was engulfed in white flames as he answered. "Everything burns!"

Slade's form was engulfed in white flames from Abaddon's blade and once the smoke cleared, nothing was left where he was once standing. A fair distance away, Slade appeared in a swirl of Space-Time magic with a corner of his vambraces slightly melted, not having been quick enough to escape completely unscathed.

Slade turned intangible and let a barrage of over 20 chaos arrows pass through him and absently noticed the small explosion they made when they landed. Slade quickly took the initiative to try and take out Morwen early and sent a dark red lightning bolt with black edges at Morwen.

Slade's eyes widened slightly as he saw Morwen smack his lightning aside like it was nothing before flashing away in a move that was not shundo and shooting at him from another angle.

Slade scowled as he flashed away from Morwen's line of sight and found himself forced to trade blows with Abaddon once more. Slade grit his teeth as he felt the heat of the white flames along Abaddon's katana and retreated a fair distance from both Abaddon and Morwen.

Quickly, Slade separated his blade into two once more before recombining them into Líthi's slim broadsword version. This would allow Slade more movement with his blade since he no longer had chains attaching him to the blade like the other form.

Slade slammed his hand onto the ground, transmuting a wall of earth on front of Morwen to block her chaos arrows before dashing toward Abaddon with his blade aflame with void red flames. The moment they clashed, a crater formed beneath their feet from the backlash of their power. Slade traded blows with Abaddon for a second before locking blades with him once more.

Instead of trying to match Abaddon in a contest of strength, Slade slammed his foot onto the ground to transmute a wall of earth to cover him from Morwen's arrows for a second. He then channeled an overwhelming amount of void flames into his blade and sent Abaddon tumbling back.

A plan came to mind as he saw Morwen flash to another spot where she could shoot him. Slade flashed to engage Abaddon again and when he felt Morwen's arrows getting closer, he flashed away at his max speed, leaving an after-image behind.

Abaddon was so surprised that he didn't notice the chaos arrows coming his way until they hit. Abaddon yelled in pain from the arrows and growled as they disintegrated in his wounds. Abaddon's eyes glowed a sickly yellow and his wounds let out steam as they healed at very quick rates.

As soon as he finished healing, Abaddon turned to Morwen in anger. "Let me deal with him, Morwen! I don't need any help to kill the whelp and we're just getting in each other's way."

Morwen studied Abaddon with a sneer for a second before lowering her chaos bow and letting it fade away. "Fine, Abaddon. But be quick about it." 'And even if you fail, it'll allow me to study Sladian's powers as well as weaken him slightly.'

If Abaddon had any idea of Morwen's thoughts, he gave no indication and simply turned to where Slade was calmly standing. "Well, boy. It's just you and me now. Want to surrender before I turn you into charcoal?"

Slade just cocked an eyebrow and studied him with an impassive look. "Is that meant to be a joke? Come at me and die, Fallen. It's time to meet your Maker and pay for your crimes."

Abaddon sneered and channeled more of his white flames into his sword. "Do you want to learn something before you die? In the spectrum of power in regards to flames, the color of the flames reveals its power. Red is the weakest, followed by orange, then yellow, then green, blue, then finally white. Black and void flames like your own cannot normally be made by any normal means and can only be used if blessed by either Amaterasu for the black or a Void-Walker for the void black. Until now, void flames have been under the sole authority of an extinct race so your flames are more powerful than my own pure white."

"However," continued Abaddon with a smirk. "Your skill in using said flames also affects whether it would win or lose against another. This is shown by how much control you have over your flames and how quickly you can use them without burning yourself. Amongst all the angels in Creation, both Fallen and not, my mastery of flames is unsurpassed as shown by the color of my flames and the skill in which I use them."

"When you die and I turn your body to ash, know you had the honor to die at the hands of the best." finished Abaddon with a mocking smirk.

During the entire exchange, Slade didn't say a single word and just stared at Abaddon in slight amusement. "You really like to hear yourself talk, don't you? Either way, it doesn't matter. You're the one who's going to die tonight, not me."

Abaddon just smiled evilly and the flames on his blade took on an almost dazzling white color. "We shall see!" Abaddon swung his blade and unleashed a wave of white fire so large and hot it burned everything in front of him.

Slade quickly responded with an equal wave of void flames that crashed into his white ones. Slade watched and understood what Abaddon met as the two flames fought for dominance.

Slade's void flames were a recent acquisition of Slade's of about a week. After getting over his trepidation about using hellfire for fear that Circe would take advantage and force him into having sex with her again, Slade had continued his training. About a week ago, he had finally mastered both hellfire and soulfire and combined them to see what would happen.

It was lucky he had put up barriers around his peristylium to prevent anyone outside of it from sensing anything going on inside. The reaction of mixing both had fundamentally changed both flames inside of him into the void red flames he could wield now. The backlash had washed over the garden and knocked Slade out for almost 24 hours. Slade had gotten even more proof of Selene's sincerity and loyalty when she took care of him while he was knocked out and made sure Circe and the others didn't find out what happened.

Slade had found out a few things about his flames since then. Like hellfire, these flames, which he called void flames due to their color, burn both the body and the soul depending on what he wanted. However, unlike hellfire, if the person burned by them can be saved or seeks forgiveness for his crimes, the flames purify the soul and do not burn the body unless Slade wishes them to. They also increased Slade's control over spells like soulfire while adding yet another protection to his mind, burning unwelcome trespassers. The flames were also much more powerful than any other type of flames and Slade guessed they could even outburn Amaterasu's black flames.

However, as Slade watched Abaddon's white flames match Slade's void flames despite being weaker in strength, he realized that his lack of control over his flames compared to Abaddon made Abaddon's white flames more than a match for his.

Slade watched both flames cancel each other out, leaving the ground between Slade and Abaddon looking like the ground surrounding an active volcano. The ground was leaking steam that made Slade's vision slightly hazy and Slade was thankful that his armor had runes inscribed onto it that kept the temperature within and an inch around him stable at all times.

Slade's eyes widened slightly as he felt more than he saw three fissures of white flames racing towards him. Slade used his incredible speed to dodge more and more fissures of white flames while canceling the waves of white flames with waves of his own.

As he dodged, Slade tried to think of options. Abaddon was obviously a master at wielding flames and his sword was just a conduit if the way he used his free hand to throw fire lances at him was any indication. The way he held his sword and Slade's few clashes with him showed he was also a master swordsman and while not as fast as Slade, his superior experience made up for it.

Slade channeled black lightning with red edges through his body to increase his speed and reflexes as he saw Abaddon's latest attack. Abaddon had impaled his sword into the ground and conjured five Chinese dragons made of white flames before sending them at Slade.

Slade cursed as he saw that they were smart and followed him even as he continued to dodge. Abaddon was also sending even more waves of white flames, causing Slade to have to cancel them with his own since they were too large to dodge.

Having enough of the game of cat and mouse, Slade roared as he unleashed a storm of black lightning around him. The backlash of his power destroyed and put out any and all flames within ten feet of him and canceled the flame dragons. Slade concentrated on his blades special ability before swinging it in Abaddon's direction.

Inanis' original ability was creating a beam of void energy that disintegrated everything it hit. While, Gram was capable of shooting an even stronger beam of light that disintegrated everything in its path. Merodach was capable of shooting various beams of light of similar strength to Inanis' void beam when one swung it.

Líthi's ability was a mix of all of them in that it shot either one incredibly powerful beam of void energy or various smaller beams. But when it combined with Yamato, it got a very special skill that Slade loved.

As Slade swung his blade, the air behind him rippled for a second in ten places before ten beams of void energy equal to Líthi strongest beam shot out of the temporary dimensional rips. The beams ripped through the white flames between Slade and Abaddon like confetti and bared down on Abaddon's position.

Abaddon saw the incoming attack and knew he couldn't survive it so he created a wave of the hottest fire he could muster to block it.

It worked...slightly. The beams hit his wave with overwhelming force and hesitated slightly before continuing on. However, the wave was strong enough to redirect them slightly and Abaddon threw himself on the floor as they passed over him and hit the ocean surface a few miles away.

For a second, night became day as the explosion lit up the entire island in its glow. Even Morwen lost some of her confidence as she saw the sheer devastation the attack caused.

Slade's breathing was slightly shallow as he saw the attack miss, his blade still glowing an eerie purple almost black color. He hadn't technically used the attack himself, simply opened ten dimensional rips into ten temporary dimensions where he had used the attack. This cost less energy to use than if he had used it himself but it still cost a lot.

Another good thing about Líthi is that it could either shoot the beam of light or store it in the blade until the blade was glowing an almost ethereal-white. In this form, Líthi could cut through anything and Slade guessed the only exception would be another of the pieces of the Original Sword.

With that in mind, Slade dashed toward Abaddon, wanting to finish this quickly.

Abaddon had stood up and saw Slade approaching to stab him through the heart and realized he wouldn't be fast enough to dodge. Instead of dodging, Abaddon swung his blade at neck height, wanting to decapitate him even if the sword stabbed him.

It seemed as if Abaddon would decapitate Slade before Slade would impale him but just as Abaddon's blade was inches from his neck, Slade let Líthi go, letting the momentum take it forward. He then went intangible, letting Abaddon's blade go through him.

There was a sickening SCHICK! As Líthi impaled Abaddon through the heart and Slade passed through Abaddon's body. Abaddon stood there in disbelief for a second before Slade, with his back still to Abaddon a few feet away, gestured to Líthi and it finished going through Abaddon completely to go to Slade's hand.

Slade turned and walked toward Morwen who was looking at Slade with an amused look on her face. "Just you and me now, Morwen."

Morwen looked over Slade's shoulder before smirking. "Are you sure about that?"

Slade was confused until he sensed something coming from Abaddon's 'corpse.' He turned and couldn't help but be slightly wary at what he saw.

Abaddon's 'corpse' was convulsing as if having a seizure. It was moving and twisting until it suddenly froze with its back to the air and two GIANT dragon wings ripped out of his back.

Slade watched with a wary eye as Abaddon's body slowly grew grotesquely and warped until where there was once Abaddon was a giant black dragon that seemed to have lava for blood if the fire Slade could see in some of the cracks was any indication. That was when Slade realized that the black part wasn't dragon scale but ash.

Abaddon was now a giant lava and ash dragon and he looked PISSED!

Dragon Abaddon looked at Slade with flames in his eyes as he chuckled. "Didn't you know? Dragons have two hearts."

Slade sighed. "Well, shit."

* * *

><p><strong>Selene vs Circe<strong>

Selene 'tsked' as she was forced to cut a bear in half while dodging a leopard's claws.

Circe's initial style of combat revolved around transfiguring hundreds of creatures to attack her opponent while Circe stayed in the back sending stream after stream of magical bolts or blasts. The result was that Selene was running out of steam unless she figured out how to get to Circe. In the old days she would have simply burned everything around her before engaging Circe in close quarters but Selene had let herself go in recent times. She might have kept herself in perfect physical shape but she never trained her mutant abilities since she never thought she'd had to, relying on her superior experience to win battles.

'If I live through this, I'm going to train them every day no matter what,' thought Selene angrily.

Selene growled in anger as she cut through a tiger only to have to turn into shadow to avoid being run over by a bull of all things. 'How many animals does she know?!' thought Selene angrily.

Having enough of this, Selene fell back on her magic, which she was slightly more confident was superior to Circe's. Selene slammed her hands on the ground as twenty magical circles appeared around her. In the center of each circle, a Flame Atronach appeared ready to fight.

'Still got it,' thought Selene happily. Selene almost stumbled as the drain was slightly more than she thought it would. 'Then again, maybe I should train my magic after this as well.'

The Flame Atronachs cut through the animals like a hot knife through butter, the animals not being able to even touch them without burning. Selene took advantage and jumped toward Circe and tried to cut her in half.

Unfortunately, it seemed Circe knew something of defending herself because she used her adamantine knife to block the slash before jumping back with the knife in a reverse grip. It was lucky that Selene's jokoto was enchanted or the adamantine dagger would have cut through it easily.

Circe gave Selene a mocking smirk. "I don't know why you sacrificed everything for that man. We both know he prefers me in his bed anyway. He took me for hours that day and did things to me that I bet he never even mentioned to you. Maybe I'll keep him as a pet. God knows he wouldn't mind."

Selene growled as her jealousy came to the fore. While she didn't mind if Slade had other lovers, especially if he shared (unbidden a memory of a fantasy between Selene, Slade and another woman came to mind), she hated that he slept with Circe.

Circe had always been proud of her looks and had often said she could have any man she wanted with just a thought. It had annoyed Selene greatly and the fact that she happily slept with the man she loved just to kill him later only made her anger worse. It wasn't so much that she slept with him as that she had slept with him just to hurt him that angered her. Slade was the type to always feel something for the women he slept with (as proven by the Griffin girl) even if it was a mistake.

Selene remembered clearly the slight hurt on Slade's face when she told him Circe only slept with him to kill him. Even if he wasn't in the right state of mind when it happened, he subconsciously hoped that it meant something to her. Especially since she seduced him knowing he was with Selene. He had probably hoped that she simply cared for him enough to risk her friendship with Selene. To hear the truth had hurt him slightly, even if he didn't real feel anything for her. Slade was just that type of person.

With that in mind, Selene snarled as threw herself at Circe, trying to cut the bitch in half. Unfortunately, Circe was good with her little butter knife and blocked all of Selene's blows. It was made worse by the fact that Circe was quicker with her knife that Selene was with her much longer blade and Selene ended up with a few cuts for her trouble.

The two women locked blades for a second and Circe smirked at Selene's face. "Don't worry, Selene. After I'm done I'll take real good care of Sladian."

Selene roared in rage and abandoned her normal self-control in order to punch Circe in the face with all her strength. If Circe hadn't had a low-level magical shield protecting her body at all times, her face would have caved in from the power of the blow. As it was, Circe's nose broke and she flew back almost twenty feet before landing.

Luckily or unluckily depending on who you were, Circe didn't pass out unconscious from the blow and swore as she tried heal her nose with a spell. Unfortunately, healing was never her forte. "You bitch! You broke my nose," she said in a nasally voice.

Selene growled. "I'm going to break more than that after I'm done."

Circe's eyes flashed as she finished healing her nose and stood back up. She incanted, "Lumen, camerus, factum!" and twenty illusionary copies of her appeared. "What are you going to do now, Selene?" mocked the twenty-one Circe's in unison. "How will you find the real one now?"

This was Circe's second style of combat. She would create numerous illusions of some type to confuse and disorient her enemies while attacking from safety. It would be made worse when she transfigured animals once more and his them under illusions. Unfortunately for Circe, this was completely useless against Selene.

Selene just gave the real Circe a deadpan look and rushed through a few illusions and punching her near the back. The sound of Circe's nose breaking once more filled Selene's heart with joy.

The illusions disappeared when Circe lost her concentration and only an instinctive magical shield saved her from being beheaded by Selene. "Dammit! Not my nose again! If this keeps up not even the best healing spells will put it right! How the hell did you know which one was the real me?"

Selene just rolled her eyes. "13 millennia knowing each other and you already forgot I'm telepathic? The illusions had no thoughts, protected or otherwise. You did."

It was for this reason that the fight had gone on for so long in Selene's mind. Millennia with Selene had taught Circe how to protect her thoughts from Selene's telepathy. If it wasn't for that, Selene would have simply destroyed her mind telepathically. As it was, Selene had to resort to dirtying her hands and taking care of Circe physically.

Selene stepped forward menacingly as behind her, the Flame Atronachs killed the last of Circe's transfigured creatures. "It's over, Circe. You used to be much more powerful but you've let complacency and arrogance set in and now look at you. I admit to suffering from the same weakness but at least I tried to keep in shape. You spent more time on your back than you did keeping in shape, magically speaking. It doesn't help that I'm the worst person for you to fight. I can summon more powerful helpers than you, I'm faster and stronger and I have much larger repertoire of spells than you. Surrender and I promise to let you live. For old time's sake."

The old Selene in her was screaming at her to just kill the bitch but Selene wanted to change. She had to give Circe at least a chance to surrender. Selene doubted she would take it, Circe was too proud for that, but the offer had to be made. Selene could never look Slade in the eye and tell him she wanted to change again if she didn't.

Circe's face contorted in rage at her words. "You? Know more spells than me? Let's test that! Crucio!"

And Selene's world turned into pain.

* * *

><p><strong>Slade vs Morwen and Abaddon<strong>

Slade's face was set in a scowl as he sent blasting curses and confusion charms at dragon Abaddon even as he dodged arrow after arrow from Morwen.

Slade had noticed a few things about Abaddon in his new form. One, the bastard's hide was so thick and strong that there were few spells that could do any damage. It was for this reason that Morwen was once more launching arrows at him. Unless she charged up an arrow, they did absolutely nothing to hurt Abaddon while still being enough to hurt him if they landed.

It didn't help that the bitch had excellent aim.

Another thing was that the width and range of his fire breath was much larger than his waves of fire while in human form. This meant Slade had to either block it with a shield or send his own waves of flames to counter it. The latter wasn't a good choice because Abaddon could keep up his fire breath much longer than Slade could hold a stream of fire without being skewered by Morwen. Therefore, he was left with keeping up a shield or outrunning it.

However, Slade also noticed some drawbacks in Abaddon's new form.

For one, Abaddon was much slower and less graceful in this form. His non-fire breathing attacks consisted of basically attacking with his claws or charging at Slade in hopes of trampling him. He couldn't fly due to the barrier Slade had up so Slade didn't have to fear him attacking from above.

Another things was that Abaddon's flames were red instead of his usual white. This probably means he doesn't enough control over his flames to heat them up beyond normal fire which meant his flames were that much weaker.

Of course, he made up for that in sheer amount of flames he could send but Slade would take what he could get.

All this let Slade make a plan on how to deal with Abaddon, at least for a while. He had purposefully been using confusion charms and blasting charms to enrage Abaddon and make it more likely for him to simply charge him than think and breathe fire at him.

Slade watched Abaddon charge at him once more and phased through him, taking Abaddon by surprise. Slade took advantage of the fact that Morwen had no line of sight to shoot at him and used his one and only ice spell while reluctantly thanking the Nightwitch for giving him the idea. "Hyoga Seiran!"

Like it did for Nightwitch, an avalanche of ice raced toward Abaddon (although Slade absently noticed it took much more magic from him to use it than it would for a similar spell of fire). The moment the avalanche of ice touched the superheated floor, a hissing sound was heard and a large steam bank was formed, blocking Abaddon and more importantly, Morwen's line of sight.

Slade smirked as the second part of his idea came into play. The steam bank had been a nice side effect but not the point of the spell. The spell was meant to once again re-harden the ground.

Slade slammed his hands onto the floor and the ground beneath Abaddon became like gel, not only making him sink into it slightly, but rapidly moving up his body until it covered everything up to his neck before hardening. Slade then jumped toward Abaddon and slammed his hands onto the rocky prison once more and transmuted it into steel, trapping Abaddon inside.

However, Slade knew even this wouldn't hold Abaddon for long. He would simply heat up the steel until it weakened enough for him to break free. Then Slade would be back to square one so he had to go on to the final phase of his plan before Abaddon could break free.

Slade was about to jump onto Abaddon's head when he heard Selene's screams start once more. It had started earlier but he hadn't been able to do anything about it. It had stopped a few seconds ago and since Slade still felt her signature, he imagined she had escaped. However, the fact they had renewed meant that Circe was torturing Selene and that made Slade angry.

A brief glimpse into Selene's mind almost caused Slade to pass out from the pain transmitted but he got enough to see Selene was writhing on the floor. Knowing that, Slade sent a medium-sized fireball at head height toward where he sensed Circe and smirked when he heard Circe's screams replace Selene's.

Slade's danger sense went off and he jumped away from Abaddon's fire breath. He was still trapped but the steam bank was clearing and he could see more or less where Slade was located.

Deciding to finish this once and for all, Slade used all his concentration to create a thin, yet powerful layer of void flames over Líthi before using Kamui to appear over Abaddon.

Silent as a wraith, Slade fell from the air while Abaddon continued to shoot fire where he thought Slade was. Slade used gravity to increase the power of his stab and when he was two feet from Abaddon's skull, he yelled, "Die, you bastard!"

Abaddon had no time to react and Slade stabbed Abaddon through the brain right through his skull, making a jet of void flames escape the bottom at the exit point. Inside Abaddon's body, the void flames spread through every orifice, destroying everything they found. They eventually reached deep into his body where his coin was located and, with a roar of power, destroyed the coin.

There was an unearthly howl as the coin was destroyed and Slade jumped away as the dragon's body seemed to grow cracks along its length. The cracks spread until with a thunderous boom the body exploded in a rush of fire and ash.

Slade was breathing heavily and was bruised all over as the steam bank was blown away from the explosion. Despite this, he was still aware enough to dodge a chaos arrow that came from the side. Slade turned and saw Morwen looking at him with a clenched jaw and a slight fearful expression.

Morwen sneered, though it did little to hide her fear. "Now it's just you and me now. Die, mortal!"

Slade sighed and got ready for the last round.

* * *

><p><strong>Selene vs Circe<strong>

There were many aspects to the dark arts. There were spells to liquefy organs from the inside out, gouge out eyes, resurrect dead bodies, and even spells to tear apart enemy minds. One could argue that there were more aspects of the dark arts than there were aspects of the 'light' arts.

Over the millennia that Selene had been alive, she had created a diagram to identify what level of the dark arts a spell fell into.

The first and most basic level of dark arts spells were spells that affected the body. This ranged from everything to simple spells to cut someone in a way that it would take a longer time to heal even with magic to spells that caused one to spit out their intestines which would then go on to strangle the nearest person as well as everything in between. This level could be argued to simply be battle spells rather than dark arts if it wasn't for the fact that it required negative emotions to cast. Spells fell into this level if they only affected the body and could be countered with a counter-spell or healing spell.

The second level were dark arts spells that affected the mind. These were everything from the Imperious curse to spells that twisted a person's loyalties by twisting their memories. Spells fell in this category if they only affected the mind and not the body. They could be countered by a strong enough mind with sufficient willpower or by a Master telepath or Occlumens.

The third level were spells that affected both mind and body. These are spells that did everything from causing boils to erupt on your body while making your mind think they hurt much worse than they did to spells that warped both mind and body until the target was unrecognizable. They were special because blocking the physical part of the spell with a physical shield didn't protect you from the mental aspect unless you had a strong enough mind. These could be countered by having both a strong mind and either a counter-spell or a strong enough physical shield.

The fourth and, some say, final level were spells that affected the soul. Horcruxes, the Killing curse, stuff like that that affected the soul in some way was considered as the darkest of the dark arts by every faction of magicals. These spells could not be countered only blocked or avoided and caused in almost all cases instant death.

However, there was a level above even that that was whispered among the darkest of sorcerers. Spells that affected mind, body and soul. These spells were feared because not only did they warp the body and mind, but they also warped the soul.

The Cruciatus Curse fell into the final category.

Selene screamed and screamed as the pain coursed through her body. She didn't know if she had been under the curse for seconds or eons, all she knew was the pain. A small part of her noticed that the spell had a mental component which increased her perception of how much it hurt. This same part of her used her considerable telepathic powers to disable this part of the spell.

However, this simply made it feel so that rather feeling as if 1000 volts of electricity were coursing through her, now it felt like only 999 volts were coursing through her. Not much of a difference.

Many would say pain was simply mental and as a high-level telepath she should be able to cut off her pain receptors and resist the curse. Those people knew nothing about magic.

Mutant telepathy was different magical telepathy. The mutant could do many things completely outside the magicals power. A skilled mutant telepath could do everything from possess people, place mental blocks on a person's power to even erase memories more completely than even the most skilled magical in the mental arts. It also could not be blocked by Occlumency which was the wizarding equivalent of blocking one's mind although sorcerers could block a mutant telepath with enough mental willpower.

However, it lacked the finesse that magical telepathy possessed. A magical could, with enough skill and time, instead of erase someone's mind, subtly change them so that the person would think you had been their friend their entire life. Instead of simply erase them, they could subtly change them so that the person affected would never have any idea anything was different.

It was the difference between a hammer and a scalpel. The hammer was stronger but the scalpel was more precise.

This was made worse by the simple fact that magic was... well, magic. Spells that affected the mind could still manage to affect a powerful mutant telepath if enough power is put into it despite logic saying different. No one was quite sure why but it was true.

Selene was a powerful telepath and was the strongest in her era. However, the Cruciatus Curse was magic and somehow still managed to trick her mind into accepting the nerves signals as pain despite her managing to cut off the connection. It was just another example of magic defying logic.

Selene's body screamed and screamed even as her mind was desperately trying to defend itself under the magical assault. Deep in her mind, Selene watched as the magic tried to cut and scatter the connections between her memories and she knew if it succeeded she would forever be trapped in her mind or at the very least, be driven insane due to no longer having stable connections between the different aspects of the mind.

Worse still was the fact that Selene could feel the spell torturing her soul as well and even if she resisted the insanity, the spell could potentially warp her soul enough that she lost her ability to feel positive emotions. What terrified Selene was the fact that that meant she would no longer love Slade.

This thought was what was making Selene hold on for all she was worth. She'd rather be driven insane or die than lose her love for Slade.

'Oh God, I'm going soft,' thought a small part of Selene that was able to think despite the pain. 'Remind me to kick a puppy or something after this.'

Selene came back to herself when Circe stopped the spell for a moment, allowing her to catch her breath. Anything else beyond that was outside her ability to do since her body was still twitching in phantom pain.

"Did you like that?" asked a gleeful Circe. "Did you like my newest spell? I invented it recently. I made it for special men who attracted my attention like your Slade. Oh," Circe smirked as she watched Selene try to attack her for that comment only to fail. "Do you not like that idea? Too bad. This spell was going to be used on every man in the world once I managed to turn women into the dominant sex of the planet. I have a plan, you see. Find a power source strong enough and cast a spell turning all men subservient to women. Of course, animals still need a way to be controlled. That's why I created the Cruciatus Curse. A spell to cast pain on the ones who inflicted the most upon the world."

Circe's face twisted into an expression of insanity and delight that would someday be reflected on Bellatrix Lestrange. "I've never actually had a chance to test it out on a live human subject though. Be a dear and tell me your opinion. Crucio!"

Selene once more began screaming in pain, unable to tell the passage of time outside of her mind as the spell took hold. She was just about to break when the spell cut off and Selene heard Circe yelling in pain. Selene opened her eyes enough to see Circe rolling on the floor in pain as smoke rose off it. Selene gasped slightly as Circe moved her hands and Selene saw what had happened.

The entire left side of Circe's face had been burned. The magical shield that Circe always had protecting her (except when she was whoring herself) saved her from having her face completely burned off and dying instantly. However, seeing the grotesque way her face seemed slightly melted and the way the skin was charred almost black made death seem preferable, especially to someone who valued their beauty like Circe.

One thing was certain, Circe would never again be beautiful by anyone's standards. The outer ugliness now reflected the inner.

Wanting to get some revenge and finish her off, Selene used her pyrokinesis to cause the embers still alight on her sleeves to reignite and burn her left arm as well.

Circe's screams reached a higher pitch before disappearing as Circe disappeared in a flash of light, signaling an emergency teleportation.

However, Selene didn't see this any of this, having passed out from the strain of using her power so soon after being tortured.

* * *

><p><strong>Slade vs Morwen<strong>

Slade frowned as he was forced to phase through another slash from Morwen's chaos sword. He jumped back to gain distance and analyze the battle so far. There were craters all across the field from missed attacks and spells. The island's stability was seriously in question and every now and then a tremor would shake the island.

Needless to say, the fight had not been going well. Slade had been annoyed to realize that while Morwen was a master using her self-made chaos bow, she was very skilled using a sword as well. Not as good as Slade but she hardly needed to be.

This was because Slade quickly realized that nothing penetrated her skin.

Slade had slashed at her many times but the only thing to be cut had been her clothing. Her skin felt like it had been made of steel and it made Slade slightly fearful. By all accounts the only thing that his sword couldn't cut through when glowing with light like it currently was should be another piece of the Original Sword. Slade seriously doubted that was the case here since his sword wasn't reacting like Ulthane said it would in the presence of another piece. Slade was also on his last legs while Morwen was still more or less fresh. The only reason she hadn't killed him yet was because she was obviously out of practice.

Luckily, Morwen also liked to gloat.

"Getting tired yet, Sladian?" mocked Morwen. "You should have realized that it's useless. Nothing can penetrate my skin. When I became immortal, instead of channeling all the power into having fast healing like the gods, I changed it into having impenetrable skin. No power in Creation can pierce my skin."

Slade frowned as while that told him how she gained it, it didn't really help in the long run so he decided to mock her a little. "That explains why you don't have a boyfriend."

Slade jumped back and opened a dimensional portal to absorb her barrage of chaos arrows before having it open behind her. It seemed she didn't like his sharp wit so much. Morwen dodged her own arrows before dashing at Slade to engage him in close combat.

Slade and Morwen traded blows that caused shock-waves all across the island. Tremors rocked the island from the power behind their blows and Slade really doubted the island could take much more before shattering.

However, that was the least of his worries as he had to concentrate on keeping his head against Morwen. Giving her a vicious kick which sent her back a little, he at least comforted himself with the fact that her impenetrable skin didn't stop her from being bruised.

'Just from dying by anything else,' thought Slade sourly.

'**Man, you really are hopeless you know that'** Said a mysterious voice inside his head.

'Who are you?'

'**Never mind that, now think use that memory of yours and answer this question. If her skin is so impenetrable why did she need to dodge her own arrows?'**

Suddenly, Slade's eyes widen in realization. The voice was right, if nothing pierces or indeed, even cuts Morwen's skin, why did she dodge her own arrows earlier? It would have made more sense to attempt to overwhelm him with arrows since he has to stay still to open a dimensional portal. If she kept sending barrage after barrage of arrows she would have eventually outlasted his ability to keep it open.

Instead, she gave up the chance in order to dodge her own arrows. In fact... she seemed very focused on not being hit by any of her own arrows. Why?

An idea coming to his head, Slade once again jumped back to gain distance, hoping for Morwen to use her bow.

It bore fruit and Morwen changed her sword into a bow before charging a MASSIVE arrow and shooting it at him. Slade once again opened a dimensional portal in front of him and made it exit a few feet behind Morwen. Slade watched as fear crossed Morwen's face for a second before she barely dodged her own arrow.

The explosion the arrow made when it hit rocked the island to its foundations. Slade was very interested to see Morwen having put up a magical shield to take the brunt of the shockwave instead of simply bearing through it. Suddenly, Slade caught sight of something that gave him hope and confirmed his theory.

Blood. There was a faint trail of blood on Morwen's left arm. It wasn't Slade's (although he was bleeding in several places) so it had to be hers. Slade's eidetic memory served its purpose as he remembered Morwen's own arrow slightly cutting her left arm as she dodged it.

Slade gave a grim smile. Morwen could only be hurt by her own magic. Or specifically, she could only be hurt by chaos magic. This explained why she closed the dimensional paths between Earth and other extra-dimensional beings. It was out of fear of Chthon granting someone else the power to wield chaos magic and that person killing her.

Slade quickly tried to think of a plan to use this against her. She was too fast to have her hit by her own arrow so that was out. Slade would need to open a portal directly behind her in order to hit her and he'd have to be close for that to work. In that case, the arrow would go through her and hit him, probably killing him as well. He'd need something of hers made of chaos magic long enough to kill her but not go through her and kill him as well.

Slade's eyes widened as he thought of something. This had to work the first time because he was on the verge of passing out. He only had enough strength to use this once and then to get off the island so if this failed, he was dead.

Slade dashed toward Morwen to engage her in close combat once more as she formed her chaos sword.

Morwen traded blows with Slade at lightning fast speeds. She was having fun toying with him and she was slightly sad to have to kill him so quickly. He had even been kind enough to kill a few upstart Fallen who didn't know who their master was. However, duty came before pleasure no matter how much the image of her whipping him as she rode him to an orgasm turned her on.

Suddenly, Slade stumbled slightly and his swing went wide, leaving him open. Morwen took advantage and stabbed at him, trying to run him through the heart. Finally, the fight was over.

However, this was part of Slade's plan and when she stabbed at him, Slade created a dimensional opening right in front of his chest. Morwen's blade entered the portal and exited right behind her chest before piercing her through the heart.

Slade let go of the spell, cutting the chaos sword in half and leaving the part that impaled Morwen in her chest. Morwen looked down at the sight of her own chaos sword piercing her chest in disbelief, as if not understanding what just happened. She looked back at Slade with a disbelieving expression before falling down dead.

Slade fell to his knees, sweat pouring off him as he thanked God that it had worked. If he had been even slightly off in the timing of opening the dimensional rip, she would have skewered him.

'**I only helped you for free this one time, next time there is going to be a price.' **The voice said before disappearing.

Slade suddenly felt energy enter him as he felt the connections between sorcerers and their patrons open once more. Slade felt the Vishanti enter his mind and he was too weak to resist so he simply let them.

Once they were done, they spoke. "You have done well, Slade Strange, the child lost in time. Without you, we would have been cut off from this dimension forever. Rest now for your job is still not done. We will speak later." With that, the presence of the Vishanti left his mind.

Slade took a few deep breaths before getting back to his feet with a groan and walking toward where he last felt Selene. He could sense that she was alive and that Circe wasn't around so he guessed she had won her fight. However, he could also sense she was unconscious and wanted to see if she was alright.

It took a while with him basically limping along but he eventually reached Selene's unconscious body. He fell to his knees beside her and laid a hand on her shoulder. This seemed to wake her as she slowly opened her eyes and saw Slade above her.

Selene looked around groggily before focusing back on Slade. "Did we win?"

Slade tried to smile but grimaced from the pain in his ribs. "Yeah, we did. It's over. Time to go back home, love."

* * *

><p><strong>8 months later, Isle of Avalon, late 532 A.D.<strong>

Screams of pain filled the makeshift hospital as nurses moved to and fro, trying to help their guest through her labor. She had shown up about 8 months ago, half her face burned and her left arm scarred. Their healing arts healed her arm but they couldn't do much for her face. She was now permanently disfigured and she had raged about it for hours. It had only been their second bit of news that calmed her.

When she first arrived, they had done a full diagnostic in order to heal her and found out something that surprised them, especially given the nature of her wounds.

She was one month pregnant.

They were horrified when she told them it was father who burned her face and their pity had pushed them to take her in, despite the slight taint of dark magic that surrounded her.

For 8 months, the woman who refused to give her name stayed with them. She was mostly quiet except when she saw her reflection. In those times she had such a massive tantrum that they took to hiding all reflective surfaces, for the baby if nothing else.

Now she was giving birth and despite the mother's snarly personality at times, she had managed to charm them with her intelligence and knowledge of magic. They were eagerly awaiting the birth, hoping it was a girl. The last birth had been a few months ago and the woman had given birth to a boy she had named Myraddin before dying.

Now they hoped for a girl so they could grow up together. Even if nothing romantic happened between them, they would be great friends at the very least.

The woman gave a final push and the cries of a baby filled the room. The nurse took the now revealed baby girl in a pink blanket and cleaned her as best they were able even as another nurse cast the necessary spells for newborns.

The mother took a few deep breaths to recover from the strain before she spoke. "My daughter. Let me see her."

The nurses obeyed and brought the clothed bundle to her and laying it gently in her arms.

Despite her attitude, the mother was very gentle as she beheld her daughter. The normal bitterness at her circumstances was absent as she took in her features.

The baby girl was blonde, something she faintly remembered was inherited from her own mother (she having inherited her father's, the baby's maternal grandfather, hair color). The baby had her father's amber gold eyes that shone much like his did. She smirked as she felt the magical power in her child. While she hated the baby's father, at least he passed on his power to his daughter.

The nurses had left after making sure she was okay, letting her have some time to bond with her daughter.

The new mother sung lowly to her daughter before an evil smirk came to her face. "Don't worry, baby Igraine. We'll have our revenge on your father. He'll pay for what he's done. Him and that bitch, Selene. For now, sleep and dream of your future throne."

When baby Igraine only yawned slightly, Circe couldn't help but smirk in anticipation.

Revenge was, after all, a dish best served cold.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Here it is the long awaited Chapter 13. And the poll is dead, but not to worry the current ones have made it. I am currently adding a new poll with a simple question.**

**Which version of Jubilee would you like to see?**

**Mutant Jubilee **

**The original mutant mallrat with the power to create Energy Plasmoids that explode like fireworks.**

**Vampire Jubilee**

**After being bitten by Xarus, son of Dracula, Jubilee has gained both the strengths and weaknesses of a vampire. But thanks to Slade's research, he helps keep her in check and the glaring weaknesses to a minimum similar to Blade.**

**Vampire/Mutant Jubilee**

**Someone once asked 'why not have the best of both worlds?' So thanks to the grimoire of his mother Lilith the original creator of the vampires, Slade is able to give Jubilee her original powers back with some minor changes to a darker colour scheme.**

**As Always Read & Review**


	15. Chapter 14: PC Final:CDF

Chapter 14: PC Final: Consequence of Defying Fate

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. All other concepts and ideas from other books or stories belong to their respective authors. No copyright infringement is intended.**

Now on with the chapter.

Warning: Lemon in chapter.

* * *

><p><strong>Northern Scotland, 573 A.D., two days before Samhain<strong>

It was times like this that Slade wondered why people had children.

"Gawain! Lancelot! Get your little butts back here now!" screamed Slade as he chased after his sons. They were playing their favorite game of 'Knights' and were now running from the 'big, bad dragon' which just so happened to be Slade himself. Unfortunately, Slade hadn't been asked if he wanted to play and so he was now trying to chase them in order to give them their baths.

Needless to say, the five year olds didn't want to take a bath and were now running from the 'big, bad dragon'.

The years had been good to Slade. He looked almost exactly the same as 40 years ago except he was slightly more muscular and his eyes shone with wisdom much like his apprentice's. His hair still had the silver lines along the side of his head much like his adoptive father and as time passed, he had grown to resemble his adoptive father more and more such as face shape and hair style. While still wild, his hair was more of a styled wildness. Selene had actually shuddered when he told her how it used to be.

Slade still laughed when he remembered Selene's reaction to his story. She said she felt bad enough that she was dating someone so much older than her and the fact he technically only grown 8 years made it worse. The fact that Slade's magic was so strong that at 59 he didn't look a day over 30 when she looked to be in her mid-30s was the icing on the cake. Slade sometimes teased her about liking older men since he was technically 80059 years old.

Slade stopped teasing her after she threatened to neuter him.

After the death of Morwen and half the council, the magical world had been thrown into disarray. While no one knew for sure Circe's fate (since they never found her body), the fact she hadn't made an appearance led credence to the belief that she was dead as well.

In the mayhem, Slade had been given the duty of carrying out the Vishanti's will and clean up the mess. He and Selene had spent 30 years killing dark magicals who planned on following in Morwen's footsteps and securing the various points on Earth that were connected to the godly dimensions. The latter was so even if someone cast the same spell as Morwen, they wouldn't be able to affect the gods' power on Earth.

Slade had formed a sort of God squad of strong gods to help him in his duty as well as help him establish good relations with all the various pantheons. The members of the group had been Slade, Selene the Greek goddesses Athena, Artemis and Hestia as well as Eris and Nemesis. From the Norse came Thor, Loki, Hela, Brunnhilde and her apprentice Sif, the Titans Themis and Hecate. Susanoo and Amaterasu from the Shinto region, Morrigan of the Celtic pantheon and the Egyptian's Isis, Nephthys and Bast. It had been hard to get so many different and sometimes hostile personalities to work together but the threat of losing their believers was a strong motivator. The fact that their kings also commanded it also helped.

During the course of their duties, they met someone who would become an unofficial final member of the group. A woman named Remus.

* * *

><p><strong>Flashback start (10 years since death of Morwen)<strong>

Slade and Selene were standing on a cliff on Circe's island overlooking the sea during one of their breaks from their duties. The rest of the squad had gone to report back to their respective pantheons their progress so far and they were left waiting until they returned.

Slade sighed and sat on the edge of the cliff. Selene sat beside him and laid her head on his shoulder. They stayed like that for a while before Slade let out a frustrated sigh.

"We have to do something, Selene," said Slade angrily. "We're doing good things with the others. God only knows that we need to make sure that the gods and the Vishanti can't be in danger of being cut off from Earth again but it's not enough."

Selene knew what Slade was talking about but wanted him to elaborate. "What do you mean, beloved?"

Slade got up and started to pace. "What I mean is that having the Vishanti in contact isn't enough to create peace. You, Circe and Morwen may have controlled the magical world but according to you there were hundreds if not more sorcerers helping. As long as they're still around they'll just continue the cycle of magical killing magical and they'll never be peace."

Selene nodded in agreement. While it was true that she, Morwen and Circe had controlled the magical world from the shadows, they hadn't done it alone. After all, they were only three people no matter how powerful they were. The way they had maintained control is that each controlled a certain aspect of the world. Morwen controlled the flow of power between magicals as well as the military and was basically the muscle of the group, Circe had controlled the economy and controlled their spy network while Selene controlled the political side and through that, how magical society evolved. Selene, as the politician of the group, knew almost everything about the other two's activities and those associated with them. This was what made her the leader of the group despite Morwen being stronger magically. The other two had no skill for political games which were Selene's specialty.

Selene sighed. "There's not much we can do as long as the others are around. They refuse to get involved and kill humans due to either their honor or because their kings tell them not to. And as long as their around they won't allow us to either. We can do it when they're not here but we need someone to be our eyes and ears when the others are around or we risk not hearing about something important."

"Then perhaps we can help each other."

Slade and Selene looked unsurprised at the sound of the voice and slowly turned towards the source.

Dropping to the floor from the branches was a woman. The woman had long red hair that almost reached her ankles, red eyes and had a black painted mask on her face. She had a skin-tight yellow shirt that hugged her considerable bust and tight black pants that ended above the ankle so there was no risk of it getting caught on something. She had wooden sandals similar to those used in Japan which was emphasized by the jokoto hanging horizontally on the small of her back. Slade could see that despite looking like just another beauty at first glance, there was muscle on her body similar to Slade. This meant she was built for speed and precision rather than physical strength.

Slade cocked an eyebrow at the woman. "So you're the one we've sensed following us since the other left."

The woman looked slightly surprised. "You knew I was following you?"

Selene nodded. "Yes. I am telepathic, you know. You're good at hiding your thoughts but the fact that you are actively hiding them sort of puts a beacon on you. The fact you never attacked us even when we seemed to drop our guard made us conclude you weren't following us for malicious purposes. So what do you want?"

The woman looked impressed and bowed slightly. "I apologize for following you but I think we can help each other. My name is Remus, as in from the Roman legend 'Romulus and... My brother Romulus was an associate under your former friend Circe. He was in charge of securing money and other resources for her and in return she would help him in certain endeavors. One of these endeavors was, as legend says, when Romulus and I fought for control of what would be known as Rome. Circe taught him certain psionic abilities that he previously lacked. For this reason, he beat me in combat and went on to found Rome in his own image."

Selene eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "If your brother is the same one who worked under Circe, then he must have been around far before Rome was founded. Circe said that her second-in-command, as I imagine your brother is, was as old as she was if not older."

Remus nodded. "Yes. My brother and I were born around the same time as you, Selene. I have noticed that those of our generation seemed to have all been immortal in some way but whether this is coincidence or design I cannot say."

Remus took a breath and continued. "As to why my brother started Rome so late in life... he did it because at the time, he was approached by someone besides Circe. I have no idea who since my brother and I had parted before then but whoever it was offered him something in exchange for him providing the perfect general for that person's army. That's the only thing I know. Who and what army I do not."

"In his need for a perfect general, Romulus founded Rome based on warfare and perfection as he sees it. I fought him, wanting to base Rome on the principals of freedom and justice but with the psionic powers Circe had gifted him... I lost. Ever since then I have been trying to stop my brother's plans. In his search for the perfect general he has committed atrocities that still give me nightmares. I won't rest until he's dead though I fear I lack the power to kill him."

Slade slowly nodded. "So you want us to help you kill him, is that it?"

Remus nodded. "Yes. In return, I am willing to help you eliminate those you say need to die. I can be your eyes and ears when you're otherwise unavailable and hunt down your targets. All I ask is that you help me kill Romulus or at the very least, set back his plans of finding his perfect general for a long, long time. What say you?"

Slade and Selene looked at each other, a telepathic conversation going on silently. They finally nodded and turned to Remus.

"Very well, we accept your terms."

Remus cocked an eyebrow slightly. "Just like that? You trust me already?"

Slade's face turned stony. "No, not just like that. We accept your help, however, I'll be keeping an eye on you. Selene tells me she senses only sincerity from you so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. If you prove yourself then we'll talk about killing your brother. Not before."

Remus thought it over before nodding. "Okay then. I can live with that."

**Flashback end**

* * *

><p>Since then, Remus, Selene and Slade would hunt down everyone that had been willingly associated with Selene, Morwen and Circe's group during their reign. It hadn't been easy but thanks to Remus's help, they managed to destroy the entire operation that had been taken over by Romulus after Morwen and Circe's death. They didn't manage to kill Romulus himself but Slade had used Líthi to badly wound him before he escaped. Remus theorized that even with his advanced healing, it would take Romulus over a thousand years to properly heal from his injuries thanks to the properties of Slade's blade.<p>

During the years spent fighting alongside each other, Slade and Remus had become close. This was due to Slade training with Remus in teaching each other their respective style of swordsmanship while Selene was searching for info on their next target. Eventually, Slade and Remus had, with Selene's blessing, become lovers although they broke up and stayed friends when they finished taking down Romulus's organization. Remus said that she wasn't one to get married and settle down so Slade had given her Yamato as a parting gift and taught her how to use some of its abilities.

Rumors of their actions were still whispered amongst magicals but nothing was ever actually confirmed. For example, Slade and Remus spent five years murdering almost a hundred dark sorcerers in Japan while Selene was with the rest of the God squad doing other important errands. The sorcerers were doing everything from raping virgins for fun to summoning demons that could destroy the countryside. Slade and Remus's actions were thought to be the acts of one person and started the rumors of the legendary swordsman Sasaki Kojirou but since they was never actually seen (by anyone living anyway), it was dismissed as a myth.

While seemingly ineffectual at first glance, the repercussions of their actions would be felt when the surviving White Council members agreed to Merlin's idea of separating from the non-magical world to form their own government under the Sorcerer Supreme's leadership.

Slade and the God squad had managed to finish their job about 10 years ago (2 years after Slade and Remus took down Romulus's organization) and the group parted amicably soon after. Slade had learned a lot from the various pantheons and had several godly patrons now. He was on good terms with all of them despite the fact that some of them, such as the Tuatha de Danaan and the Asgardians, were hostile to each other.

Slade and Selene had retired to a small, self-built house (built with magic of course) in Northern Scotland next to the Lake where the Lady of the Lake resided. Their house and the clearing it resided in had wards around it to prevent any attacks, magical or otherwise, and they were on good terms with the local centaur herd and usually traded with them for goods. The centaurs would help them get food and other necessities while they would enchant and ward their weapons and homes. The fact that the clearing was a nexus point where several ley lines intersected was just a bonus.

All in all, it was a good arrangement.

Slade sighed as cursed the fact that he was persuaded by Selene to give the boys their baths today. She was currently relaxing after a hard day of, as she said it, 'picking up after her messy husband and children' and like a good husband, Slade was going along with it. He did not want to sleep on the couch tonight.

Slade rolled his eyes as he gave up chasing the hyperactive boys and magically summoned to him. Slade couldn't help but smile as he heard their giggling as they flew towards him.

Lancelot was the first to come into Slade's eyesight. Slade and Selene had taken him in when they found his mother, Elaine, crying over her husband, King Ban's, dying body. They tried to save him but the wounds inflicted on him were made by dark magic and they were too late to do anything. Elaine had been in similar straits plus dying from dehydration and hunger and had thought that infant Lancelot would die in the wilderness either at the hands of the Picts or by wild animals.

She had made them take Lancelot and swear to raise him as their own and they had agreed. She died not long after and they buried them not far from their house where Lancelot could visit their graves. Slade had tried to find any relatives of Lancelot's but failed even when the Lady of the Lake said she would help.

Lancelot had black hair that had a purple tint in the sunlight and grey eyes. He was strong of build even being only five years old and like Gawain, loved sword fighting. The two had taken to Slade's teachings like ducks to water and had formed a friendly rivalry with each other. Lancelot was currently in the lead but not by much as Gawain constantly pointed out.

Slade's smile grew when he saw his other son fly through the air as well, giggling all the way. Gawain was Slade and Selene's son by blood and Slade had to admit that they spoiled him slightly. He had inherited his maternal grandmother's dark brown hair, Slade's amber eyes and Selene's ability of pyrokinesis. The latter ability had only manifested two weeks ago and Selene had been beyond ecstatic that he had inherited that and not her 'cursed' ability.

Slade caught both children in his arms and used one arm to carry each before carrying them towards the bathroom. They playfully pretended to try and escape the entire way, laughing and playfully calling their mother for help. On the way to the bath, Selene came out of their room wearing a red robe that stopped just above her knee and a smile on her face.

Selene had only gotten more beautiful since she had Gawain, at least in Slade's eyes. For a long time they had been afraid that she couldn't have children and was barren. However, they had eventually figured out that her vampire-like ability basically froze her in time. If she stopped 'feeding' then she would once again start aging normally and be able to have children. Gawain was their first and only child so far and every day was a blessing with him in their lives. Selene had basically told Slade point-blank that she would have another child only when Slade went through the pain of birthing one as well.

Needless to say, Slade quickly decided to stop at only one child.

Selene's eyes twinkled in mirth as the sight. "Oh, dear. It looks like a bad man has taken my children captive and is planning to take advantage of me. Whatever should I do?"

Slade gently put Gawain and Lancelot on the floor before walking over to Selene and placing kisses along her neck. "You should let me show you how a real man pleasures a woman and forget your loser of a husband."

Selene moaned slightly at his kisses. "I don't know. My husband is a magnificent lover. I doubt you could top him."

Slade nipped at her neck, drawing another low moan from her. "Well, we won't know until we try."

The two started to kiss heatedly and only the sound of 'Ew!' from their children stopped them. Selene gave Slade a heated glance before giving him another kiss. "You better finish what you started later." she whispered huskily.

Slade gave her a roguish smile. "I plan to." Slade rubbed his stubble cheeks for a second before speaking. "You know, I'd look more roguish with a beard. Maybe I should-"

Selene interrupted him. "If you grow a beard I swear I'll burn it off."

Slade pouted at that. They had had this conversation a few times and Selene steadfastly refused to let him grow a full beard. She said that if she wanted to marry a vagabond she would have married one centuries ago.

Slade heard Gawain and Lancelot snigger at him and he turned on them with a false angry look. "Come here you little gremlins." After successfully catching them again, he started to carry them to the bathroom. "For that, I'm going to make the bath last twice as long."

Selene laughed as the children yelled 'No!' and try twice as hard to escape. Selene shook her head at their antics before walking toward the kitchen to start dinner.

As Selene started the meal, she reflected on how she had changed. If anyone had told her 50 years ago that she would someday be nothing more than a simple housewife taking care of her husband and children, she would have probably killed them slowly for what she thought was an insult. But here she was, having retired from 'active duty' as Slade called it, almost a decade ago. She still trained to keep herself sharp (she learned from her fight with Circe) but the most action she'd seen in the last decade had been when a rabid werewolf had wandered too close to their home and tried to attack the children.

She showed the werewolf why she was called The Black Queen by the gods and still feared even now. While she may act like a housewife most of the time, when it came to protecting her family she reverted to the old, cruel Selene. Anyone who threatened them died without exception.

Selene was so lost in cooking dinner and her thoughts that she almost didn't sense Slade walk up behind her. Selene smiled as he hugged her from behind and leaned into him.

Slade kissed her neck before speaking. "What are you making, love?"

Selene pushed him with her hip slightly in response. "Samhain is in two days and I'm preparing food for when Nimueh, the Summer Queen and the Winter Queen arrive. You know how picky the last two are and the last thing we need is for them to start a fight in our house. It seems like they'll look for any reason to quarrel."

Samhain was the current time's parallel to Halloween. It was the time when the wall between the dimensions was thinnest as even souls of the deceased could cross. Nimueh a.k.a. The Lady of the Lake, always came to visit during this time since it was one of the few times she could walk amongst mortals without problems. She often brought along the queens of the two fairy kingdoms, the Winter Queen Mab and the Summer Queen Titania. Like Selene said, they were very picky and unless Slade wanted to watch Selene beat up one of the fairy queens (which Selene was certainly powerful enough to do) and cause an inter-dimensional incident, it was best to avoid problems.

Slade shrugged. "They're opposites. Asking them to get along is like asking for summer and winter to coexist. Impossible. We're just lucky they're willing to call a truce in our house during Samhain."

Selene rolled her eyes. "More like we're lucky that Nimueh, as goddess of all fairies, can keep them on a firm leash. I swear those too bicker like sisters at times."

Slade chuckled at that. "That's true. Who else is coming?"

Selene gave him a sly smile before answering. "Susanoo can't make it, Loki, Sif and Thor are busy but Remus, Athena and the rest are coming. They can't wait to see you again. Do I have to soundproof our bedroom again?"

Slade blushed slightly as Selene chuckled. During the 30 year job with his squad, they had all become close friends. However, Slade's relationship with the female members of the group was quite close, Brunnhilde had been especially so. During the celebration for their last mission, Selene had decided to reward Slade for so many years of faithfulness to her while being surrounded by beautiful women.

The reward had been a night with all of them. Needless to say, that night topped as number three in his 'greatest nights of my life' list with number two being the birth of Gawain and number one being his entire official honeymoon with Selene. Selene had been adamant in beating Circe in the bedroom and Slade had all too willing to go along with it.

Slade felt himself become aroused at the memory and a sly smile crossed his face. He started laying kisses down Selene's neck which slowly revved up Selene's engine. Moans left Selene's lips as she forgot what she was doing and started to grind back into Slade's arousal.

Slade laid a kiss on Selene's ear and whispered. "Only if you're there as well. They might be goddesses but their beauty still pales in comparison to yours."

Selene moaned at his words and turned around in order to give him a scorching kiss. The two continued to kiss heatedly before Selene broke the kiss. "We can't. I need to cook, beloved."

Slade waved his hand towards where Selene had been preparing the meal and the utensils started to move on their own, cooking the meal without any supervision.

Selene moaned as Slade once again licked her ears, which happened to be very sensitive. "B-But... The children, Slade. They'll hear us!"

Slade waved a hand at the door and squelching sound followed by it glowing white showed it had been locked and silenced so no one could enter and noise wouldn't go out. "There. No more excuses. It's been far too long since I slept with my wife. One would say that you're neglecting me. You're even throwing me at other women. For shame!"

Selene gave him a playful glare. "We had sex this morning! For three hours!"

Slade shook his head in false sadness. "I know. Far too long ago."

Any other words were muffled when Slade gave Selene a scorching kiss that revved up her engine too much to ignore. After that, the only noises that came from their mouths were moan, groans and declarations of love.

Lancelot and Gawain had finished getting dressed after their bath and were now lazing around in the living room. The door to the kitchen was magically locked and they knew that meant their parents were busy kissing or worse.

Lancelot was playing with a walnut he found, trying to practice his hand-eye coordination by doing tricks with it. Gawain watched for a while before his eyes wandered to watch the rest of the room before inevitably landing where they always did when in the living room.

The house was fairly big with 5 bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, a dining room, a large bathroom and a garden in the back. The living room was where Slade and Selene put up their trophies of their various adventures as Gawain called it.

On top of a table in the corner was a glass case with dragon teeth and claws on display from a time they killed a Monstrous class Dragon Kind in Northern Gaul. There were various staffs and wands along the walls from dead dark sorcerers who crossed them as well as an angelic katana that they said belonged to a Fallen before Dad killed him. Above the door to the dining room was his father's old shield with the five dragons on it along with his old gladius sheathed inside of it.

On the wall above the fireplace, the family emblem was hanging. The family emblem was a gold pentagram on a red background. His dad told him it represented the five virtues of a true knight and man: noble generosity, fellowship, purity, courtesy, and compassion. His mother told him that the gold represented the wisdom a knight had to have in order to live justly and the red symbolized courage. Dad said that if he managed to become a knight then he would be worthy to wear the emblem on his shield as long as he followed those virtues.

Beneath the emblem on top of the fireplace were his parents' swords hanging horizontally on the wall: his mother's jokoto, Nightweaver and his father's sword, Líthi.

The latter sword was what drew Gawain's eye. Despite its seeming simplicity, it exuded power and nobility just by its very presence. Gawain remembered very well the only time he'd seen his father use it. It had been against a group of bandits that had a sorcerer strong enough to bypass the wards surrounding the clearing temporarily. His father had destroyed them with a single slash of his sword that left not even ashes behind.

His mother had complained about him ruining the countryside just to show off.

His father had promised both him and Lancelot that someday they would receive swords almost as magnificent as his. They couldn't use his since he was the only one that could but he had commissioned the Lady of the Lake's fairies to make them two swords when they came of age. Gawain couldn't wait for the day.

Lancelot sighed explosively and got up from where he was lying on the floor. "I'm bored and hungry. What do you want to do?"

Gawain was brought out of his thoughts by the question and shrugged. "I don't know. We can't spar with our practice swords or mom will kill us. You know how she gets about us being dirty at the dinner table."

Lancelot rolled his eyes and put on a stern expression, trying to imitate Selene. "'You are the sons of the Sorcerer Supreme and should always look your best so as to not bring shame to him.' I swear, I like etiquette and tradition, those things are cool at times, but she does this even when we don't have any guests."

Gawain shrugged. "It's like Dad says, 'Women are beyond the comprehension of any man, mortal or not.'"

"I can certainly agree with that sentiment."

Gawain and Lancelot jumped at the sound of the voice and turned around to see who it was.

Standing in the doorway was a man who didn't look a day over 30 with black, wild hair and hazel eyes. He also had a beard that was scruffy and unkempt which matched his unkempt persona. He was dressed in the quintessential wizard clothing, pointed hat and all, and had a staff in his hand. He was looking at the two boys with twinkling eyes and a smile on his face.

"Uncle Merlin!" both boys yelled out and ran to give the man as hug.

The man now identified as Merlin chuckled as he returned both boys' hugs. "Look at you two! You've gotten so big since I last saw you! I trust you two have been behaving yourselves?"

Gawain nodded quickly. "Of course we have, Uncle Merlin. Mom would kill us if we didn't."

Merlin smirked at that and looked around for the woman in question. "And where is your mother? With master somewhere?"

Lancelot stuck out his tongue in disgust. "They're locked in the kitchen probably kissing."

Merlin got a perverted look on his face as he imagined Selene naked. "Really now? Maybe we should enter and tell them I'm here. You know, so they know to make food for me too."

"That won't be necessary." said a slightly irritated Slade who had just entered the room. "I knew you were here the moment you arrived. We stopped when we realized that. I wish you had arrived an hour later." the last part was said under his breath but the mage heard him.

Merlin giggled in a way that even the children knew was perverted. "Come on, master, I'm your favorite apprentice-"

"You're my only apprentice," interrupted Slade in a deadpan tone. "And a lazier or less motivated one I've never met. You'd think being taken as the apprentice of the Sorcerer Supreme would garner more respect but noooooo..."

"-you can tell me anything," continued Merlin as if he hadn't spoken. "So tell me... is she a moaner or a screamer?"

Suddenly, the atmosphere turned oppressive and dark as a sweetly smiling Selene entered the room. That smile terrified every male in the room for one simple reason.

Selene never smiles sweetly. Ever.

Selene continued to smile sweetly as she turned to a rapidly paling Merlin. "You know, Merlin. I've been hearing some interesting rumors from the passing Picts that sometimes stop by. Do you know what they're telling me?"

Merlin gulped and looked around for support only to see that Slade and the children had disappeared, leaving him alone with Selene. 'Traitors!' thought a panicking Merlin. "Um...no. What are they saying?"

Selene took out a butcher knife from behind her back and started to clean her nails with casual ease. The fact that she was cleaning her nails WITH A BUTCHER KNIFE and not cutting herself scared the everlasting shit out of Merlin. "Weeeellll, they're telling me that there's this good-for-nothing man dressed like a wizard going around sleeping with their women and even going so far as stealing their wives' underwear. You wouldn't happen to know who this person is, do you."

Merlin gulped as he realized he was dressed like a wizard and tried to discreetly hide the women's underwear that was sticking out of his back pocket. "Ummm... No, I don't. But don't worry, I'll dedicate myself to catching this perpetrator and bringing him to justice." He then tried to casually walk past Selene to the dining room only for her to catch him by the neck and start to squeeze, choking him.

Selene's smile turned vicious as the atmosphere turned even darker. "Don't worry. I already have."

Back in the dining room, Slade and the boys winced when they heard Merlin's screams start. Gawain turned to his father with a questioning look. "Dad? Didn't you say knights are supposed to be courageous? Why are we out here and abandoning Uncle Merlin to Mom's nonexistent mercy?"

Slade just patted Gawain's shoulder consolingly. "Son, someday you will learn there is a fine but clear line separating courage and stupidity." There was a crashing sound heard from the living room and cries of 'Not the face! Not the face!' "And crossing your mother lies firmly in the stupidity side of the line."

Merlin's screams of pain turned suspiciously high-pitched as he started screaming. "I changed my mind! Hit the face, please hit the face!"

* * *

><p><strong>An hour later, dining room <strong>

Merlin drank his wine with poise, completely ignoring the fact that he had a black eye and the boys' sniggers at his state.

Beside Slade, Selene smiled serenely with hidden glee as she watched Merlin eat with grace for fear of attracting her wrath again. Slade was trying to hide his snickers without much success at how happy Selene seemed after administering Merlin a beating.

Slade shook his head at his apprentice. "You know, I don't know how you turned out this way. When I met you, you spent your days ignoring my orders to train and spent your time staring at the clouds while calling everything 'Troublesome'. Now you're a raging womanizer, prankster and pervert. Oh, where did I go wrong?"

Merlin gave him a deadpan look. "Maybe it was when you dragged an impressionable 14 year old boy around the world and didn't silence your room every night when you guys were having-" Whatever else he was going to say was cut off by the boiling hot water thrown at his face by a completely unashamed Selene. "Ah! Hot, hot, hot, hot!"

The males in the room guffawed as Merlin ran out of the house and threw himself in the cold lake only to then scream 'Cold!' and run back into the house and park himself in front of the fireplace, shivering.

Selene shook her head with a small smile as she watched the men laugh at Merlin's misfortune. She turned to Slade with an exasperated look. "Are you sure it has to be him? Isn't there anyone else that can take the position?"

Slade gave her an apologetic look and shook his head. "Sorry, love, but there's no one else strong enough for the position. Even if there was, everyone else is either corrupt or wants to leave things as they are. Merlin's the only one who has a firm dream of bettering the magical world and with his skills plus the Sorcerer Supreme position he will make it reality."

Selene huffed and turned to Merlin who was still heating himself up by the fire. "Bum! Make yourself useful and clean the dishes!"

Merlin waved her off carelessly. "Don't wanna. I'm cold."

Selene glowered at him. "Even if you are an unmitigated bum, at least try to act like a normal civilized person while you're a guest in my house will you?"

Merlin gulped at the sight of her glare and nodded his head frantically. "Yes, ma'am!" With that, he quickly picked up the dirty dishes and went to wash them.

"And no magic!" yelled Selene at the man's retreating back.

"Awww!"

A few hours later, night had fallen and Slade could be found sitting in a chair looking over the garden

The garden had been a labor of love between Slade and Selene before Gawain was born and Lancelot entered their lives. It was divided between plants for potions, plants for food and plants just for aesthetic purposes. Slade had frozen Ashwinder eggs inside lanterns that were permanently hovering around the garden so that it would give the garden an ethereal setting at night.

Slade let the sounds of nature wash over him and ease his troubled thoughts. With all that's happened, he's learned to enjoy nature in all of its splendid beauty; the tweets of the birds, the clouds in the sky, and the crisp breeze blowing through the air. Slade had purposefully decided to retire somewhere in the wilderness instead of in 'civilization' for this very reason. In places like Constantinople the sounds never completely ceased and the feeling was quite different.

Here in the wild, there was a feeling of untamed energy combined with the slightest hint of danger that, as crazy as it sounds, relaxed him. It was quite sad to know that within two millennia these places would become quite scarce as humans forgot their roots and spread across the world like locusts.

It had taken much to convince the Picts of this kingdom to allow them to settle here, even with the Lady of the Lake's blessing. They didn't trust outsiders and rightly so. Too many people from 'civilization' looked down on their way of life simply because they didn't have fancy clothing or houses. However, they managed to win them over and they were allowed to live here in the heart of Pictland or Uerturio as they called it. Slade remembered reading about the land being where the king of the Picts usually ruled from but had yet to confirm it himself. While cordial, their relationship with the Picts wasn't such that they told him stuff like that.

Slade's eyes turned to the forest and he waved when he saw a patrolling centaur not far from the edge of the forest. The centaur waved back before returning to his patrol.

Their relationship with the centaurs was much better, with them trading with them regularly. In fact, Slade had to remember to trade with them come Samhain in order to get the spices that Selene so loves to put in her food. Slade could probably find it himself but it would be simpler and less insulting to the centaurs to simply trade with them. Of course, that was after he managed to get their minds back to earth. Slade swore he'd never met a more frustrating species than the centaurs. They constantly spoke in riddles about the future that frustrated the hell out of him.

Still, Slade had to admire the centaurs for surviving in the forest. While the forest was protected by the Lady of the Lake, that didn't stop creatures such as trolls, werewolves and three-headed dogs from entering. The centaurs often had to protect the forest from these creatures when they went out of control. The wild werewolves, especially, needed to be put down because they were people who had surrendered to the inner wolf and couldn't return to their human form and lost their intelligence. This was becoming more and more often as the generations separating them from the original golden werewolf increased.

However, there were also more docile creatures in the forest such as unicorns, pegasi, hippogriff, threstrals and bowtruckles. Selene often entered the forest with Lancelot to gather ingredients from these creatures. The fact that the unicorns allowed Lancelot to touch them always baffled and amazed them to no end. They hoped he always retained that purity. Though he ruined it by asking if he could adopt a baby Cerberus as a pet.

A smile crossed Slade's face as a familiar weight landed on his shoulder. A crow appeared over Slade's shoulder before speaking.

'Hello, Slade. You seem troubled today.' said Dust. 'Is something the matter?'

Slade had been given Dust as a gift by Death in the clearing when they first started to build the house. Dust was a pure black crow with golden eyes. She had a wingspan of 85 cm long and weighed about 170 grams. Slade had spoken to her and offered to let her live with them as his familiar.

In return, she would help guard the house when he wasn't there and protect the children if they wandered off as they were prone to. It was a beneficial relationship for both and eventually they became friends.

Slade sighed. "I'm worried, Dust. The centaurs have become more and more skittish every time I visit as if expecting something to happen. They also keep looking at me as if it was the last time they expected to see me but they refuse to tell me why. I know they can read the stars to have a vague idea of the future so this disturbs me."

Dust cawed into his ear for a second before answering. "Perhaps they know something is coming. You know how those stubborn mules are like. They refuse to interfere with what they think is foretold. They forget that if something is truly unavoidable then trying to change it would do nothing. However, the attempt to stop disasters is a sentiment that should never be lost."

Slade smiled sadly. "When did you get so philosophical?"

Dust rolled her eyes, even though that should be impossible for a snake. "When I made friends with the Madman of the Forest."

Slade laughed at the name the locals had given him. It amused Slade that they were so scared of him that they called him a madman. Heck, even Merlin had taken to disguising himself as a madman in order to make the rumors spread.

Slade stopped laughing and sighed morosely. "I just wish I knew what was coming. I have a bad feeling about this and this isn't like before. Now I have a wife and children to think about. I can't risk facing the unknown with them in tow."

"Then perhaps you should heed my advice and go back to your own time."

Slade's eyes narrowed at the sound of the voice. He didn't need to ask who it was. He was intimately familiar with the speaker... unfortunately. Dust knew as well and slithered away to avoid being caught in the middle of the confrontation to come.

"Agamotto," said Slade in a deadpan voice. "Fancy seeing you here."

Agamotto had appeared out of the forest edge as an ethereal blue tiger. He casually walked through the garden without disturbing so much as a single leaf before sitting on his haunches before Slade.

"Are you finally willing to listen to reason? This is not your time, Slade. You have done all you had to do in this time and you must return to your own."

Slade sneered at his words. Agamotto had been telling him to pass on the Sorcerer Supreme title to Merlin and return to his time ever since Gawain was born. Apparently, now that he had helped birth Gawain and saved Lancelot from dying in the forest, his job was done and he expected Slade to abandon his wife and children and return to his time.

Not bloody likely.

"And I've told you, you overgrown housecat, that I will not abandon my family," retorted Slade angrily. "My place is with my wife here raising our children."

Agamotto growled angrily. "You have no idea what you risk with your presence. The longer you stay, the more you risk completely unraveling the timeline. Lancelot is meant to be raised by the Lady of the Lake just like Gawain is meant to be raised by Morgause."

"And as their parents, Selene and I don't have the right to raise them ourselves?!" yelled Slade angrily. "Now that we've been good little minions and done everything according to your instructions, you expect us to just abandon our children?! What are we to you? Breeders for your little kingdom?"

"Do not put words in my mouth!" yelled Agamotto angrily. "I am simply telling you facts! I tried to get you to leave Gawain with Morgause before you grew too attached to him so it would be easier! The same thing was for Lancelot! But you insisted on raising them yourselves despite knowing it is not supposed to be that way!"

"We are their parents," said Slade stubbornly. "We are supposed to raise them and that's the way things are supposed to be."

"Agh, you are impossible to reason with!" exclaimed Agamotto furiously. The ethereal blue tiger started to pace in front of Slade. "I am not happy nor proud to have to do this! But the problem is that the legends of Gawain and Lancelot cause ripples beyond this multiverse! Their legend extends to the entire Omniverse! A single change in their legend or behavior will send ripples across the entire Omniverse and who knows what can be destroyed by the waves those ripples create?! Beings like Pandora use these ripples to their benefit!"

Slade frowned. "I know enough about Space-Time to know that when a variation or change in the past, such as the one I'm making, occurs an alternate universe is created. That doesn't make much difference and doesn't risk the Omniverse so why does this put you in such a bind?"

Agamotto bared his teeth angrily. "Because, as I said, the legends of Gawain and Lancelot and their relation to King Arthur affects the entire Omniverse! Every single multiverse cluster has a legend of them in their past. And in every one, the legend is much the same with only a few variations. But what you risk doing will smack in the face of every single one of those legends! The consequence will be that every single multiverse will have rewrite its history and basically change according to how the changes you make in the past affect the present. However, not all universes will be able to adapt! That means that in order to maintain the stability of the Omniverse, entire universes and maybe even entire multiverse clusters will be deleted. A near infinite amount of lives will be lost and the stability of the Omniverse may become compromised! And all that for what?! You do not even know what kind of future your actions will create?!"

"I do know what they'll create," said Slade firmly. "A better life for my children than what they got and that's all that matters. This is my time now and as much as I miss my father and the people of that time, I am happy here, Agamotto. You are the one who brought me to this time. I didn't make a mistake all those years ago. You dragged me here and now you expect me to just abandon the life I've built here and go back? After everything I have suffered, after everything I have sacrificed, don't I deserve to be happy?" The last part was said with naked desperation in his voice.

Agamotto's form drooped and he sighed. "Yes, Slade. Of all the people I've met, you deserve your happiness the most. Unfortunately, it is not that simple. You have destiny in the future just like your children have a destiny here and the choice of whether you stay here or not is not up to me."

"No," agreed Slade. "It's up to me and I've made my choice. I will stay to live with my wife and grow old with my children. Screw my destiny. All it ever brought me was heartache."

Agamotto sighed but couldn't help but give one final warning. "Very well, Slade. However, I give you this warning. The Omniverse is alive to a certain extent. It may rebel against your perceived attack on it and I have no doubt that people you love will be caught in the crossfire. Are you willing to take that risk?"

Slade looked worried but nodded.

Agamotto sighed and changed the subject, his warning given. "Well, you called me here tonight. Does that mean you are finally passing on you position as Sorcerer Supreme?"

Slade slowly nodded. "Yes, it's time. Merlin is ready at long last. The magical world is ready for the vision Merlin has for it and there's no better time for it. Though I wish he would be more serious about it."

Agamotto's form rolled its eyes. "I am not pleased about this as well. I would prefer to keep you than some rookie who has no idea what to do. Thankfully, Dormammu and the others have been sealed away for half a century thanks to you. That should be long enough for Merlin to come into himself and be able to handle them." Agamotto groaned as if in actual physical pain. "If only he wasn't such a damn pervert. I just know he's going to be locked away because of it. I just know it."

Slade couldn't help but smile. "He can be serious when he has to be as he's proven. Plus, maybe some of his light-heartedness will rub off on you and take that stick out of your ass."

Agamotto growled. "Watch it."

Slade just laughed at his response. It was to this sight that Merlin exited the house. Slade laughing and looking unconcerned despite the fact there was a blue, glowing tiger looking quite angry not five feet from him.

Fortunately, Merlin had seen Agamotto take this form various times so he knew who it was. Merlin walked forward to stand beside his master and bowed to the being. "Agamotto? It is an honor to see you. Why are you here?"

Agamotto stopped growling and sighed before turning to Merlin. "I am here because your master is going to pass on the position of Sorcerer Supreme."

Merlin seemed surprised for a second before turning to Slade in concern. "Are you sick, master? Is there anything I can do?"

Slade waved him off. "No, Merlin, I'm fine. I've simply decided that it's time to pass the position to someone who will use it with wisdom and who is actually active in the magical world. This person has a clear vision of what he wants for the future and I'm giving him the position to support him."

Merlin looked confused and slightly annoyed that someone else would get the position that in his mind, firmly belonged to his master. "Who is it?"

Slade looked amused at Merlin's annoyance since knew the reason behind it. "You, of course."

Merlin blinked as if not understanding before it slowly dawned on him. "W-What?! Me!? B-b-but you can't be serious, master! I'm a pervert and unreliable and-"

Slade raised his hand to silence him. "You may be a pervert but you're anything but unreliable. Every time I've truly needed you you've always come through. You've grown under my teachings. Grudgingly, yes but you still grew. You changed from the small 14 year old boy who was still recovering from his recent jaunt through time to a strong 40 year old sorcerer that has mastered the First Miracle and is wise enough to look to the future of both magical and non-magical worlds."

Merlin looked lost, no longer the shameless pervert or prankster but a man who was being told by the only father he had ever known that it was time for him to leave the nest. "B-But... I'm too young! What if I make a mistake?"

Slade laid a hand gently on his shoulder and smiled. "I have no doubt you will. We're only human and we'll make mistakes. The important thing is when we trip, to be strong enough to pick ourselves back up."

Merlin looked at Slade while biting his bottom lip before nodding hesitantly. "Do you really think so?"

Slade smiled widely. "I know so. You, Merlin, are selfless, heroic, protective, honorable, brave, caring, optimistic, compassionate, and wise. Even if you impart only a few of these traits onto the next generation, the world will be a better place."

Merlin's eyes watered at his master's honest faith in him and he nodded. Agamotto saw that they were done and spoke. "It is time, Slade. And I must say...it was an honor to have you as Sorcerer Supreme. None will remember your sacrifices but I swear to you that I will never forget."

Slade nodded and closed his eyes. Suddenly, the Cloak of Levitation appeared around him and he started to glow an ethereal white. Slade opened his eyes and his eyes were now shining like stars and his voice took on a double-timbre, as two people were speaking. "Myraddin of Ruta, do you accept the position of Sorcerer Supreme and swear to protect this realm from all harm, internal and external until such time that you pass on the title to another?"

Merlin gulped but stood up straight with his staff in hand. "I do so swear."

Slade closed his eyes and the glow surrounding him started to travel to Merlin. "Then by the power vested in me by the Vishanti, I, Slade Strange, do name you this dimension's new Sorcerer Supreme!"

The dark clouds that had been gathering rumbled and the earth shook slightly as Slade stopped glowing and the Cloak of Levitation disappeared from his shoulders to appear on Merlin's. Merlin glowed an ethereal white and the Cloak of Levitation changed to mimic the wizarding wear he always wore. Agamotto gave Slade one last meaningful look and disappeared.

Merlin stumbled slightly and Slade helped steady him until he regained his balance. Merlin shook his head and looked at Slade in wonder. "Is this how you felt all the time? I feel so much stronger! It's like the difference between a caterpillar and a bear!"

Slade smiled slightly and put his hands in his pockets. "More or less. But remember, with this power comes the responsibility to use it wisely. Remember all that I've taught you and you will do well."

Merlin became serious and nodded. "I will, master... father." The last word was said in a low tone but Slade still heard it and smiled.

The master and apprentice embraced for a second before separating. Both tried to discreetly wipe their eyes so the other wouldn't see.

After gathering himself, Merlin gave Slade a questioning look. "What will you do now, master?"

Slade smiled softly. "I'm gonna stay here and raise my family. If you ever need anything, don't be afraid to call but I'm sure you can stand on your own now."

Merlin nodded slowly and a concerned look came over his face. "And what about what Agamotto said? Are you sure you'll be okay?"

Slade smirked. "I thought I heard you listening to us. Don't worry about that overgrown caterpillar. I can take care of myself."

Merlin still looked concerned but accepted his master's words. "Very well then, master. I'll be off then. Selene still won't allow me to sleep over after what happened last time."

Slade gave him a slight glare. "That's because you tried to see her naked by turning invisible and hiding in the bathroom. You dirty pervert. You're gonna get killed for that one of these days."

Merlin just waggled his eyebrows. "But what a way to go." With a crack! Merlin disappeared before Slade could retort.

Slade shook his head and chuckled slightly. "Oh Merlin, don't ever change." The man who was once Sorcerer Supreme then turned around and walked into his home to sleep beside his loving wife.

* * *

><p><strong>Island of Ruta, Same time<strong>

A cloaked figure walked amongst the shadows of the temple to the Tuatha de Danaan. A passing candle illuminated the face under the hood for a second showing a half-burned face of a woman that looked more like a hag than a woman. The few people out this late at night took no notice of her as she hid in the shadows and they continued to walk towards their homes to sleep. Once, the figure had been welcome here and she had had no need to hide. However, the keepers of the temple had found out about her... less than acceptable practices in magic and had banished her from setting foot here. This did little to deter the goddess-level sorceress though. It just made it slightly more difficult to get in and out without attracting attention.

The figure checked if the coast was clear before it sneaked into a home that looked like every other, the only difference being that a candle was still lit inside and the curtains were drawn. The figure silently walked to the living room of the home where a woman waited for her.

The waiting woman was beautiful by anyone's standards. She had long blonde hair that looked to be spun out of gold, beautiful golden eyes that seemed to pierce the soul and a body that most women would kill for.

Her beauty was such that it attracted her future husband, Duke Gorlois of Cornwall, 20 years ago despite her still being part of the Old Religion. He married soon after and they had two children, Morgause, who had married Lot the future king of Orkney 3 years ago, and her son, Cador. Her beauty was such that a fairy crossed over on Samhain night 6 years ago and took the form of her husband in order to bed her. From this union came her youngest daughter, Morgana, but thankfully, her husband did not blame her or Morgana and loved Morgana as if she was his own.

Few who saw her would believe she was actually 40 years old instead of the 20 years old she appeared. Less still would believe that the ugly hag that was currently visiting was her mother yet it was also true.

The cloaked woman lowered her hood, revealing the still burned face of Circe. Time had not been kind to Circe. Her once beautiful red hair that shined in the sun had turned dull and unkempt due to neglect. Her figure that once made men drool in lust now had curves in all the wrong places and the fact that her teeth were slightly yellowing did not help overmuch. All in all, Circe looked the part of her new title of Hag of the Forest.

Igraine's eyes softened as she beheld her mother and she ignored her looks and wrapped her in a hug. Circe showed surprising gentleness and hugged her back just as lovingly.

"Hello, mother," said Igraine softly. "Are you hungry? The trip here must have been long."

Circe gave her a small smile that looked more like a grimace on her half-burned face. "Please and thank you. It is getting harder and harder to enter unseen. It seems as if the guards are getting better at protecting this place which is ironic considering everyone knows it will sink within the decade."

Igraine said nothing as she prepared a plate for her mother although she personally thought that it wasn't that the guards were getting better but that her mother's magic was getting weaker. Magic came from within but the condition of the body decided how much magic one could channel at a time. Immortal in that she could not die of old age her mother may be, but she was no longer what she once was.

Of course, Circe wouldn't hear of it and insisted that her magic was just as strong if not stronger than ever. Igraine disagreed.

Her magic wasn't stronger, just darker.

None of this was shown on Igraine's face as she lovingly placed a plate of food in front of her mother who had sat in the dining room table. Circe gave her a smile of thanks and ate gracefully. Despite her looks, Circe still moved quite gracefully and she had passed on that and her magical skills to her daughter.

The two made small talk and inquired into each other's lives. Circe made a face of disgust when Igraine mentioned either her husband Gorlois or her son, Cador. Circe's hate of men had only grown worse through the years and it extended even to her own grandson. However, Igraine was used to this and simply ignored it.

After Circe finished her meal, she turned to the reason for arranging this meeting. After all, Igraine was supposed to be in Cornwall with her husband right now. She only managed to be here due to using Samhain as an excuse to visit.

Circe's eyes took on an eager gleam as she spoke. "I'm finally ready, Igraine. After all these years, I'm finally ready to get revenge on that bastard Sladian for what he did to us."

Igraine's face was impassive as she spoke although one could see the apprehension in her eyes. "You found him then? I thought rumors said he had died."

"Bah!" dismissed Circe. "As if anything but a goddess-level sorcerer could kill him. I watched him cut through and completely destroy one of the most powerful of the Fallen myself. And that was after he killed various council members and another Fallen. I doubt anything in this world but I could match anymore. He did go out of his way to kill anyone of note."

At this, Igraine could not stay silent. "Not everyone. By all accounts, the magicals he killed were all dark or corrupt in some way."

Circe fixed Igraine with a stern glare. "Don't let the rumors he started get to you! He's a ruthless monster who cut Morwen down like a coward and burned my face after getting me pregnant! There's not a good bone in his body. I was lucky to escape with my life!"

Igraine looked skeptical but said nothing. "Very well, you've found him. What are you going to do?"

Circe looked at Igraine as if it should be obvious. "Why... kill him of course! I've got it all planned out. He lives alone far from civilization with that whore, Selene and two boys. They'll be easy pickings. I'll use the same trap he used against Morwen and me. I'll wait till he's gone from the house and kill everyone inside before concentrating on him. He'll be so caught off-guard and weak from inaction that it'll be easy."

Igraine, however, focused on something else. "Two boys? He has children?" There was hint of longing and jealousy in her tone. Jealous that he had other children who got to know their father unlike her.

Circe didn't catch her tone and just waved it off. "Yes, yes. One is his and Selene's kid and the other is some brat he adopted. Probably trained them to be a killers like him."

Igraine fell silent as she lost herself in thought.

Her entire life, Circe had told her that her father was an evil cruel man that burned her after finding out she was pregnant. At first, Igraine believed her and hated her father. However, as she grew older things didn't start to add up. By all accounts her father was a good man who only killed evil and corrupt magicals. He asked for no fame or glory and found no joy in his duty. His apprentice, Merlin, was also another well-known figure and while known as unsalvageable pervert, he was also known for his kindness and wisdom.

By the time Igraine was 19 she started to doubt her mother's words and began to construct a more or less accurate picture of truly happened.

Her mother had often boasted to have once been so beautiful that she could seduce any man. She had once let slip that she even managed to trick and seduce the Sorcerer Supreme himself. Since the only Sorcerer Supreme she could have known was Sladian himself, that said he hadn't raped like she said but rather that she seduced him.

Another thing that made her suspicious was the way she spoke of Morwen. Circe often portrayed Morwen as a tragic figure who tried to bring order to a chaotic world. However, everyone Igraine asked said Morwen's name with fear and hatred. Her name alone was enough to terrify most magicals even now, 40 years later. When her mother had been banished for practicing dark magic, this had only cemented Igraine's belief that her father had not been the guilty party.

Circe didn't notice Igraine's expression and continued to speak. "First, I'll need you to bypass the wards around the clearing and household so I can enter without alerting anyone inside. Once I've taken care of everyone inside we'll go after Sladian. We'll kill him together, as mother and daughter."

Circe had placed a hand on Igraine's at the last statement and Igraine delicately pulled her hand from Circe's grip. "And what about the children? Will you kill them as well?"

Circe looked perplexed the question. "But of course! They're just men and deserve nothing less!"

Igraine's face became hard as stone and her emerald eyes flashed in anger. "There are not men. They are boys. Children just like my son Cador. Would you kill Cador in your hatred of men as well?"

Igraine's heart dropped and tears came to her eyes as she saw the truth in her mother's eyes. She had tried to believe that deep down she truly loved her grandson and was just being stubborn. However, Igraine could now see that she would feel nothing at Cador's death and she could no longer lie to herself any longer. Her mother was a monster.

Igraine stood up and turned to her mother with an angry expression. "I think it's time for you to leave, mother. I will not be party to the murder of innocent children, no matter their gender. I won't say that men are not without their faults for they are, but children are innocent. I won't blame children for the sins of a few bad men."

Circe stood up with a thunderous expression and was just about to shout when they heard footsteps walking down the hall. They turned and saw 5 year old Morgana rubbing her eyes sleepily and looking at them in confusion. "Grandma Cissy? What are you doing here so late?"

Circe smiled lovingly at her granddaughter and gently picked her up and placed her on her hip much like she did to Igraine when she was Morgana's age. "Nothing, dear. We were just talking about something. Why don't you go to bed?"

Morgana looked up at Circe with wide, innocent eyes. "Will you read me a bedtime story?"

Circe smiled gently and turned to Igraine who reluctantly shook her head. Circe's smile dropped slightly before she turned to Morgana. "Sorry, dear but your grandmother has to go. I'll tell you a story when I come back."

Morgana pouted. "Promise?"

Circe smiled. "Promise. Look," Circe reached into her cloak and pulled out an Adamantine dagger. Igraine was about to interject but Circe spoke first. "You hold on to this until I come back. This is very special to me since it's the only one of its kind. That way you're sure I'll come back and tell you a bedtime story."

Morgana happily grabbed the golden dagger by the hilt. "Thank you, grandma. I promise to keep it safe till you come back."

Circe just smiled. "I know you will." She laid a kiss on Morgana's forehead and placed her on the floor where Morgana said goodnight and ran to her room.

Alone again, Igraine turned back to Circe. "Will you still do this?"

"Yes." said Circe firmly with hardened eyes. "I will do it tomorrow before the Lady of the Lake visit him for Samhain. He'll have lowered his guard tomorrow since Samhain is so close. He needs to pay for what he's done. Will you attempt to stop me?"

Igraine's eyes closed in pain at her mother's words before she let loose a sigh. "No. I may not agree with your decision but... you are still my mother and I love you."

Circe's eyes softened and she laid a kiss on Igraine's forehead much like she had to Morgana. "And I love you my beautiful daughter."

With that, Circe left the house to get ready for the next day.

* * *

><p><strong>The next day, Slade and Selene's house<strong>

The morning sun poured in through the windows, dragging Slade from the depths of his slumber. He yawned and stretched his sleep-stiff limbs, careful not to disturb the sleeping woman at his side. Selene faced away from him, her breaths shallow, the gentle rise and fall of her chest steady. He curled around her, pressing his chest against her bare back and throwing a possessive arm around her waist. She made a noise, a gentle purr of contentment in the back of her throat and slept on.

Slade loved these mornings, when he woke early out of habit and had the privilege of watching Selene sleep, vulnerable and unguarded in the soft morning light. Sometimes she would crack a tired eye and tell him to stop being weird and watch her while she slept. Sometimes she would huff and curse and tell him to be useful and go start breakfast. But sometimes she was like this, languishing in the hazy world between sleep and consciousness, warm and pliable, receptive to the kinds of tender caresses that she would have rebuked in waking hours.

This was the first of what was hopefully many mornings where Slade was no longer Sorcerer Supreme. No more having to disappear to deal with problems on the other side of the world. No more coming back at odd hours or not coming back for days. Now he could truly enjoy his life with his family.

"Wake up, love," he whispered, dropping his head to lay a dry kiss on her shoulder. His fingers drew patterns over the soft skin of her stomach, ghosted over the curve of her breasts, dipped down to stroke the coarse patch of hair between her legs. His cock, half-hard from a barely remembered dream brushed against her arse.

The noise she made this time was less than content, a pitiful grumble of annoyance. "Sleeping," she mumbled, tugging uselessly at the sheet tangled and curling into herself. The movement put a new space between them, but allowed Slade a teasing glimpse between her splayed legs.

* * *

><p><strong>Lemon start<strong>

Slade couldn't resist the temptation and reached for his heavy prick, giving it a few firm strokes as he drank in the sight of her, remembering how he'd been there just a few hours before, his face buried in the warmth of her cunt, drinking down her pungent taste as her thighs squeezed the sides of his head like a vice. Selene had been beyond happy the first time he ate her out and enjoyed it immensely ever since. Slade himself didn't mind since she often returned the favor.

He pulled her back towards him so she could feel the weight of his arousal pressed against her. He angled his cock so that it settled in the crack between her arse cheeks and moved, just a gentle cant of his hips. "Wake up, love," he whispered again.

She said nothing and gave no indication that she'd heard him at all. Her breathing remained steady, her body relaxed. Slade rested his weight on one arm while his free hand found its way to her hip. He held her against him as he began to move, the subtle friction of dry skin on dry skin making up for the painfully slow pace of his rutting. Pre-cum oozed from his reddening head and left a sticky trail across her ivory skin. It wasn't enough to get him off, but it set his skin on fire, every nerve in his body awakening with a screaming need.

Slade released his light grip on her hip and let his hand travel down. She was wet, whether from dreams of her own or an unconscious response to his touch, Slade didn't know. It didn't matter either, all that mattered was the slick feel of her cunt, the soft, velvet heat underneath his fingertips that he would give anything to sink into. His fingers sought her clit as his eyes watched her face, waiting patiently for the moment when she would throw off those last vestiges of sleep and join him.

It didn't come. Selene made a mewling sound, but her eyes remained shut and a peaceful smile spread across her face. Her legs closed tight, trapping his hand between her thighs. At first Slade worried it was an act of self-defense, an attempt to deny him access to those bits of her he wanted to touch so badly. But then she began to rock, her arse pressing up against his groin as her hips moved, grinding herself between the hand caught between her legs and the cock trapped between the curve of her arse and his stomach.

It was intoxicating, watching Selene writhe, knowing there was nothing contrived or even conscious in the way she move. Maybe she was trapped in that shallow dreamscape before waking, when the world of the living was able to break through the thin layer of sleep and influence foggy dreams. He wondered if she was dreaming of him, dreaming of this.

But he couldn't relax, couldn't let go, because it felt too good, yet not good enough. It would be better, so much better, if he could push himself inside, feel the warmth of her cunt wrapped around him as she moved. "Selene, please," he said quietly. "Please wake up. I need you."

She must have heard him, or maybe she heard the Slade in her dreams speak, because she let out a little whimper. Her slide of her body became less gentle, more insistent, and she pressed back with more pressure, grinding her arse against him with desperate little swivels of her hips. Slade tried to pull his hand free, but her legs squeezed tighter, holding it in place. "No," she grumbled, her voice thick with sleep and a childlike sternness. "Stay."

Slade's heart began to pound as the need to bury himself inside her tried to overwhelm him. He couldn't pull his arm away, but he could shimmy a few inches down the bed. He pulled his own hips back, trying desperately to free his cock – now fully erect and weeping from the slit – so he could angle, angle down, angle just there.

The head of his cock slipped against her wet folds and he hissed as the sensation shot through his body, his nerves exploding like a series of firecrackers. He pushed forward, his cock slipping between the swollen lips of her cunt. It was glorious, so warm and smooth and wet. But it wasn't tight passage he wanted; he wasn't inside.

"Selene," he whimpered, not caring that his voice was high and pleading. "Fuck, Selene." His cock ached to be inside her, to feel the tight walls of her cunt pulsing around him.

She continued to rock, rubbing herself shamelessly against his hand. And then it happened, Slade felt the crown of his cockhead catch on the rim of her passage. He let out a sob of joy and wrenched his hand free, grabbing onto her hip before she could protest. He held her still as he pushed his hips forward, sinking inch after inch into that blinding wet heat in one steady thrust.

Selene gasped, and then suddenly her hand was on top of his on her hip, the nails of her fingers digging into the top of his hand. He pulled his hand away and reached down, grasping blindly for her leg so he could lift it, open her up, push in deeper. "By the Creator," she exhaled, her voice aware but still heavy with sleep. She groaned, a deep sound within her chest. "Goddammit, Slade."

Slade couldn't bear to pull out too far and was more than happy to hold her against him, moving his hips in shallow, measured thrusts. He let go of her leg, but she maintained the position and moaned as he began to explore the front of her body, his calloused fingers mapping her curves and causing a line of gooseflesh to break out wherever he touched. Her muscles clenched around him when he pinched her nipples, her body going taut in surprise and pleasure.

Selene pulled his hand away from her breasts and guided it down, back to the junction between her legs. His fingers slipped between her fleshy lips and found her clit once more. She whimpered, small, begging sounds escaping the back of her throat as he began to rub small, tight circles that didn't match the leisurely pace of their fucking. She reached behind her, slipping her hand into his hair, and tugged – hard – just as she clenched her muscles tight, holding him inside, refusing to let him go.

"You're trying to kill me," Slade gasped as he pushed against her. Her cunt was tight, the walls gripping hard onto his oversensitive cock so that every fractional movement sent a shock of crippling pleasure spiraling through his body. He could feel her working her muscles, tensing and relaxing, tensing and relaxing, tensing and relaxing, as though she were trying to milk his orgasm from him with her cunt.

"That's what you get," she moaned as she circled her hips, "for waking me up so damn early."

His mind was useless, but his body moved on autopilot, stored muscle memory from the countless other times they'd fucked like this, slow and deep, almost torturous in its tender brutality. He hissed as he pushed into the tight grip and his hand continued to work. When he pinched her clit, rolling the distended nub between his fingers, she cried out. Her thighs began to shake and the muscles in her cunt spasmed. "Fuck, fuck, fuck," she chanted.

Her line of her body went rigid, every muscle held taut for just a moment, before she deflated with a worn-out sigh.

"You bastard," she said with a throaty chuckle.

Slade laughed and kissed her sweat-soaked black hair. He lifted her leg again, higher this time, and she let him. Her limbs were a heavy, dead weight, but he didn't care. He didn't need much, just a few earnest thrusts, and few clumsy pistons of his hips and then his balls were drawing up, his cock was pulsing, and he was emptying himself inside her coveted heat.

**Lemon end**

* * *

><p>He pulled out slowly, then collapsed into the soft embrace of the mattress. Selene rolled over, draping herself across him. He laughed again and slipped his arms around her shoulders, trying to haul her up to him, but found he hadn't the strength. Sighing, he abandoned his endeavor, choosing instead to relax into his post-orgasmic bliss.<p>

"Good morning, beloved," she chirped. She kissed his chest, then bit down softly, nipping him with more affection than malice.

"Shh," Slade said, as his eyes fell closed. "I'm sleeping."

The last thing he heard before slipping back into unconsciousness was another throaty chuckle and a threat to how he should expect to be woken up.

Slade woke up once more about an hour later. The sun was already fully up and his bed was empty. The smell and sounds coming from the kitchen told him Selene was cooking breakfast and Lancelot and Gawain were already awake.

With a smile on his face, Slade got up and got dressed for the day. He would be going to meet the centaurs before noon in order to trade for the spices Selene needs for the dinner she was going to make for tomorrow. The boys had made him promise to take them along the next time he went to meet the centaurs so they would be coming as well. Slade couldn't wait to see the looks of disappointment on their faces when the 'cool centaurs' turned out to be frustrating stargazers that spoke in riddles.

Slade saw a medium-sized chest laying on the floor next to the dresser. Sealed inside it was the gifts from the Asgardians, Olympians, Shinto and Egyptians for all his help and good work. It was a small but noticeable amount of Uru and Adamantine as well as a doze of other materials. At the time Slade asked for it, he had planned on forging weapons out of it. However, now that he had retired from his Sorcerer Supreme duties maybe he should trade it back to the Olympians in return for them blessing the children. Slade certainly didn't need it and any extra protection on the kids would be appreciated.

Deciding on doing just that, Slade shrunk the chest with a wave of his hand and pocketed it. After he comes back with the kids from trading with the centaurs he'll go to Olympus and Asgard to ask for the trade.

Slade walked out and kissed Selene good morning before smiling at Lancelot and Gawain's bickering. This time it was over who would track the centaurs faster. Rolling his eyes and stopping the argument, Slade sat down and ate his breakfast along with Selene.

After he finished, he sighed and turned to the children. "Well, get dressed boys. We're going to see the centaurs now. It's easier to track them early in the morning than it is in the afternoon. Ruddy stargazers start obsessing not even two hours after noon."

Selene smiled as the children cheered and went to get changed. She turned to Slade with a teasing smirk. "You sure you know what spices to get?"

Slade rolled his eyes and smirked right back. "Yes, love, I know what spices to ask for. I can't believe the once prim and proper Senator Gallio is now roughing it in the outdoors and even knows what spices to use in the food that she cooks."

Selene scoffed at Slade. "Please. This might as well be the pinnacle of civilization compared to Constantinople. At least here I don't have to be afraid of some idiotic senator getting offended because I won't spread my legs for him and then finding some false charges to get me arrested. Egotistical pigs."

Slade chuckled and gave Selene a short kiss. "Good riddance to bad rubbish."

Selene smiled lovingly up at her husband. "Plus... I would live anywhere as long as I'm with you."

Slade returned the smile before shaking his head self-deprecatingly. "What did I ever do to deserve you? You gave up everything you know for me and followed me through hell and even gave me a family. Heck, I think you're the only wife in the world that actually encourages her husband to sleep with other women."

Selene just gave him a naughty smile. "And who said I'm not just using you so that I can have sex with those women as well?" Selene laughed at the glazed look in her husband's eyes and playfully smacked his arm to get him out of it.

Slade came back from his happy place and gave his wife a lustful smile. "You're mean. Now I'm all hot and bothered. What are you going to do about it?"

Selene rolled her eyes at her husband's libido. "You're incorrigible! We just had sex this morning. You woke me up for that if you remember. Something I still have to get you back for." Selene turned slightly serious. "But to be truthful, I let you sleep with other women because I know you love me. I'm no longer afraid of you leaving me for another woman."

Slade frowned slightly. "You got really upset when I slept with Circe."

"That was different," hissed Selene angrily. "That... whore was just using you. If she had actually cared for you... okay, I still wouldn't have liked it but it would have been easier to understand. She only slept with you to cause me pain and to kill you afterwards. You were nothing but an expendable toy to her and that angered me. Especially since I knew you well enough by then that I knew you would grow attached to her. It's impossible for you not to feel something for the women you've been with. That's why I hated Circe so much. I knew she was going to hurt you."

Slade gave her a sort of half-confused, half-understanding look. "So... you don't mind me sleeping with other women as long as you approve of them?"

Selene winked at him. "Exactly."

Slade chuckled and kissed Selene deeply before breaking the kiss and looking at her lovingly. "What did I ever do to deserve you?"

Selene smirked. "You believed that a woman who had done unknowable evil could become better and was worthy of redemption."

Slade chuckled and turned when he heard the children thundering down the halls toward them. Gawain and Lancelot entered the room at the same time, each one declaring themselves the winner of their little impromptu race.

Slade outright laughed when Lancelot said he won because he was older much to Gawain's anger. He put a hand on each boy's shoulder when it looked like it was going to become physical. "No fighting. You two are brothers and while you can get angry at each other, brothers should never try to hurt the other. Understand?"

Both boys looked down in shame and nodded their heads in understanding. Slade smiled down at both boys and ruffled their hair playfully. "Anyway, it was a tie. That means that as long as you both are unharmed, you both won. Now, go outside and wait for me while I say goodbye to your mother."

Both boys stuck out their tongue at what that meant before running outside to wait for him.

Slade turned back to Selene and gave her another kiss. "We'll be back in about two hours, okay?"

Selene nodded before frowning as she remembered something. "By the way, I heard raised voices last night. Did something happen?"

Slade scowled slightly in remembered anger. "Just arguing with Agamotto again. No big deal."

Selene's eyes flashed in rage at Agamotto's name. She had been beyond angry when he had first told Slade to basically abandon her and their children. The idea that he considered her nothing more than a baby factory filled her with uncontrollable anger. Since then, she couldn't be in the same room as Agamotto without them arguing and in order to stop Selene from trying (and failing) to hurt Agamotto, Slade simply made sure they weren't in the same room anymore.

Selene scowled as well. "You told him where he could shove his whole 'destiny and necessity' crap, right?"

Slade chuckled and nodded his head. "Yes, dear. I told him that I'm not going anywhere and now that Merlin's the Sorcerer Supreme I don't have to talk to him anymore."

"Good," said Selene stiffly. She softened slightly and kissed Slade once more. "Be careful out there, those damn centaurs are getting on my nerves with their cryptic warnings. You know how they are. If they believe something is pre-destined not only do they not do anything to stop it, but they actually try to stop others from stopping it."

Slade frowned and nodded before grabbing the bag to carry the spices in as well as what he was offering to trade them for. "Don't worry, I will. See you soon, love."

With that, Slade walked outside to take the boys to meet the centaurs.

* * *

><p><strong>Forest edge, an hour later<strong>

Circe scowled as she reached out with her magical senses. The good news was that Sladian wasn't at home. However, neither were his children as well, only Selene. She wanted to kill both Selene and the children together in order to shatter Sladian but killing Selene would have to do. She would take care of the brats at a later time.

Circe started to chant in an old, guttural language. Before her magical senses, she felt the wards start to react to her spell. Circe had always been a master of transfiguration. She had been able to do complex transfigurations when she was barely 12. However, she had grown lazy ever since she became immortal and this was what led to her being defeated by Selene all those years ago.

Since her defeat and disfigurement, Circe had returned to her roots and once again pioneered several branches of transfiguration. One of these was the spell she was using now.

Wards usually could only be either broken through brute strength, unraveled if one knew enough about ward structure or bypassed if one knew a loophole in the ward scheme. However, the first was dangerous because one of the wards could be traps and kill the one trying to break through, the second took too long and alerted the ones inside and the last wasn't always possible.

Circe, however, found another way. Instead of doing anything like that, she literally changed the basic structure of the ward scheme itself. It took highly advanced magical senses and centuries of skill in the art of transfiguration, but by doing this, not only was Circe able to enter without alerting the inhabitants, but she could literally change the wards to accept her as the primary controller of the wards. Doing this wouldn't alert the inhabitants unless you were the primary controller of the wards since nothing actually changed in their scheme. Even then, the primary would only be alerted once he entered the wards themselves and since Sladian wasn't here, he wouldn't know until it was too late.

Circe gave a smirk of triumph as she felt the wards pass to her control. She had to give Sladian some respect as she felt the power of the wards as well as the drain they gave her. He had to have some serious magical power to be able to shrug off the drain so readily.

Circe cast an invisibility spell on herself and stalked toward her prey.

Inside the house, Selene was cleaning up the kitchen when she stiffened. Her instincts were telling her that something was off but she didn't know what. It took her a minute but she finally realized what it was.

The forest was silent.

There was usually the normal sounds of animals and birds but now, it was completely silent. Like the way animals went silent when a predator was around.

It was only thanks to Selene's instincts that she managed to dodge the first spell aimed at her back. Without looking, Selene banished everything in the kitchen toward her attacker only to curse when she saw the dishes and other stuff be either vanished or turned into transfigured animals.

Selene ran into the living room and grabbed Nightweaver and barely had time to dodge another spell. Ripping her dress along the side to giver herself some more mobility, Selene cast a wide-area cancelation charm to reveal her opponent.

Selene's eyes narrowed as she saw a cloaked figure fade into view as the person's invisibility spell wore off. Selene could tell that the person was female by the way they stood but little else. The cloak they wore covered their body completely and they had their hood up which cast their face into shadow. Despite this, there was something... familiar about the attacker. As if something from a long time ago.

Selene scowled at her attacker. "Who are you and why are you attacking me?"

The figure chuckled in false mirth. "Oh, I'm hurt, Selene. Don't you remember your old friend? I'm certain your husband does. He was such a good lay. If he hadn't burned my face, I would have even deigned to make him my lover."

Selene narrowed her eyes in thought as an idea of who the attacker was started to surface. "No... It can't be. She's dead."

The figure reached up and pulled back her hood, causing Selene to gasp as she saw the person's face.

The entire left side of the person's face was twisted in barely healed burns. The burns extended down the side of the head, making that side bare of any hair. Their left eye was barely seen through her drooping eyelid. The eyelid itself was injured as well. From what Selene could see, it was just as burned as the rest of that side of her face and she probably kept it as closed as possible to keep it from hurting too much. The left side of their mouth was twisted from the burns, giving her a sort of permanent grimace.

Despite this, Selene recognized the woman. She had worked alongside her for millennia, after all.

"Circe," gasped out Selene in shock. "B-But... how? I thought you died."

Circe gave her a twisted smile. "You always did give me too little credit, Selene. I'm a survivor. I survived all this time because I knew when to press the advantage and when to fall back. That night, I had a space-time emergency transport on me. I activated it when your bastard of a husband burned my face and I managed to escape."

"For 40 years, I planned my revenge. I cursed as you destroyed my resources but in the end you underestimated me. You destroyed them thinking I was dead and never thought I'd build new contacts and acquire new resources. Now, after so long, I have you right where I want you and you're going to be the first to die. Then, your children ending with your husband."

Selene's eyes narrowed at the threat to her family. "You've forgotten that you're in my home. You're the one who's in trouble."

Circe smirked and waved her hand. Suddenly, Selene dropped to her knees as she felt her magic be bound by the wards. Selene was so caught off guard that the wards obeyed her that she couldn't react in time to stop Circe from ripping her sword from her hand and stabbing her though the stomach with it.

Circe smiled evilly as she watched Selene's look of pain at being stabbed. She originally wanted to make this long a drawn out but she couldn't risk Sladian coming back early and stopping her. She learned from their last encounter to not underestimate the man.

Suddenly, Circe shrieked as a pure black Crow with gold eyes struck and clawed the arm holding the sword with a caw of rage.

'You shall not harm the mistress anymore! Die, witch!' Cawed Dust angrily.

Circe stepped back as Dust tried to claw her again, holding her right arm close to her as she hissed in pain. With a roar of rage, Circe telekinetically grabbed Dust and through her a wall and out into the clearing outside.

Dust's distraction had given Selene time to grit her teeth at the pain and wrench the sword from her gut. While Circe was off-guard Selene used the last of her failing strength to slash at Circe. Circe dodged both blades but was caught off-guard when Selene put all her strength into a kick that pushed Circe though another wall and back outside, breaking Circe's nose in the process.

Selene fell in a heap and admonished herself for letting herself be caught off-guard. However, it was understandable. Selene hadn't expected Circe to take control of the wards, much less be able to use the magic negation aspect of it to such a degree. It had been Slade's idea in case they had to invite someone of dubious loyalties and they turned out to be hostile. They would strip the person of the ability to wield their magic before capturing them. Who knew that someday it would be used against them?

Selene's eyes widened in fear as she suddenly felt Circe attack the house's support beams from the outside, trying to bury Selene inside. Knowing that in her weakened state she wouldn't be able to survive that, Selene walked over to the fireplace and smeared blood over the mantelpiece.

With a slight rumble and a glow of a rune activating, the unlit fireplace rolled back into the wall, revealing a staircase into a secret basement.

The basement had been a hobby of Selene's whenever Slade was out on Sorcerer Supreme business. She wanted a sort of safe haven for the children in case they were ever attacked and so secretly built this place for them to hide. It was only halfway done and she was going to tell Slade about it now that he was no longer Sorcerer Supreme and had time to help her finish. Now it looked like it would be seeing use sooner than expected. However, even halfway done, the room was strong enough to withstand even a barrage of hellfire from ten Fallen.

Selene started to walk down the stairs when she heard the sound of something shattering. Selene turned and saw green fire racing towards her.

"Greek fire," muttered Selene, partially in fear.

Unlike normal fire, which Selene could control, Greek fire was magical in nature and therefore, couldn't be controlled by her. It also spread rapidly and burned everything that wasn't extremely powerfully magical in nature. This included people and with Selene's power still bound, she wouldn't survive if it reached her.

Holding a hand to her wound, Selene pushed herself down the stairs to escape the fire's reach for a moment. Getting up as quick as she could with her wound, Selene ran down the passageway with the fire not far behind her. Reaching the door to her haven, Selene wrenched it open and barely closed it in time.

Taking a breath in relief, Selene saw her world start to blur and barely had time to activate the haven's security features to maximum before passing out.

* * *

><p><strong>With Slade, same time<strong>

Slade inwardly groaned in frustration as he continued to barter with the centaurs. He had been at this for over an hour and it would have been done in five minutes if they had simply talk like normal people.

Unfortunately, centaurs liked to talk in vague terms that would give even the most skilled politician a migraine to try and decipher. Slade couldn't help but feel as if they were trying to stall for some reason. They had always been annoying trade with but never to this extent. It was like they were doing this on purpose...

Slade stiffened and narrowed his eyes as he discreetly looked around. He noticed that while seemingly relaxed, the centaurs has stood in a way that he was cut off from his path back home. He hadn't noticed because he wasn't technically surrounded. He still had an escape route available... just in the direction toward his house.

Slade turned to where the boys were bothering some centaurs about how it felt to run like a horse with a stern look. "Gawain! Lancelot! Come here!"

Gawain had a rebellious look on his face. "But Dad! Can't we stay a little while longer? There's nothing to do since Mom won't let us spar today."

A centaur with a gray coat and Caucasian skin spoke up. "Yes. We don't mind talking to the little ones. You can stay as long as you want."

That set off alarm bells in Slade's head and he automatically started gathering his magic. Centaurs never liked talking to humans, even children. They considered humans barbarians at best and monsters at worst. While they wouldn't hurt a child, they certainly wouldn't willingly spend time with one.

Slade glared at his sons, causing them to freeze in fear. "Come here NOW!"

The boys were almost instantly at his side, realizing that their father was serious. Lancelot was looking around for whatever had his adoptive father on guard while Gawain was now watching the centaurs with suspicious eyes.

Slade stiffly turned to the leader of the centaurs who he had been bartering with and was now tense much like his fellows. "What are you hiding, Cale? You've never been this cryptic before. Why are you stalling me?"

A remorseful look crossed Cale's face before he spoke. "You cannot stop what is meant to be, Slade. To do so invites disaster. I'm sorry."

Slade looked around him before freezing when he caught sight of something in the air in the direction of his home.

Smoke.

Black smoke.

Slade's mind froze as the implications hit him and rage filled him as he realized what the centaurs had allowed to happen. With a roar of rage, Slade let loose a shockwave of power that threw the centaurs flying almost a dozen feet back and land in a heap.

"MERLIN!"

With a pop of displaced air, Merlin appeared at his side, staff alight with magic and ready to fight. Merlin looked around in slight confusion before turning to his master. "Master! What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Slade turned to Merlin with eyes blazing with magic, making his eyes look like emerald flames. "Merlin, stay with the children and protect them at all costs. Don't let these mules," Slade gave the groaning centaurs a disdainful look, "touch them or near them no matter what. I have to go see what happened at home."

With that, Slade disappeared in a swirl that originated from his back, leaving Merlin alone with the boys.

Merlin was confused at his master's words until he looked in the direction of Slade's home and saw the smoke. He paled before turning red in anger. Merlin turned tot he still groaning centaurs with rage in his eyes. "Hope that Lady Selene is fine for if not... Hell will seem like sweet release compared to what I will do to you."

With that said, Merlin pulled the children close and consoled them that everything would be alright. However, deep in Merlin's heart, he felt as if something terrible was going to happen.

* * *

><p><strong>Just outside Slade's clearing, one minute later<strong>

Slade appeared in a swirl of color just outside the clearing. At first, he was confused why he appeared outside of the wards when he was aiming for outside the house. However, he eventually felt the reason why.

The wards were under someone else's control and they had used the ward to prevent Space-Time travel through them. This caused Slade to start to panic. He knew the many wards he's put up and if someone else was in control of them, that meant that Selene was basically defenseless since there was a ward that also inhibited mutant powers.

Thankfully, Slade had put in a backdoor for the wards and he now reached out to activate it. The backdoor itself only responded to his magic alone and anyone else attempting to change or use it in anyway would cause the person to be killed. Slade reached out and activated the backdoor, causing the wards to collapse instantly. Better for them to be down than to be used against him.

Slade started to run toward the house that was now burning in green flames that were frighteningly familiar.

Greek fire.

Slade stopped, however, when he heard a caw of pain nearby. Slade turned and tears came to his eyes as he saw the broken body of his familiar, Dust, lying a few feet from him.

Dust saw Slade and gave him the bird version of a sad smile. 'Slade... I'm sorry. I tried to save your mate but... the witch was too strong. I'm... sorry for... Failing you...'

Slade shook his head. "You tried, Dust. Thank you for that. Return now, you have done more than enough."

Dust just smiled before she turned into her namesake and she stilled in tattoo form.

Slade got up from where he had kneeled beside the spot where Dust had been and turned to his house only to narrow his eyes as he caught sight of the person who must be responsible. The flames illuminated the person's face and even with her nose broken and bleeding and the left side of her face burned, Slade recognized her.

"Circe," hissed out Slade angrily. "You did this?!"

Circe smiled evilly though the effect was lessened by the fact that her nose was broken. "Did you think me dead, Sladian? I regret to tell you that I'm much stronger than I appear. Your barrier blocked most forms of escape but not space-time transportation. Luckily, I had suspected something might happen and had it handy just in case. Now... after 40 years, I finally have my revenge on that bitch for her betrayal."

Slade started to see red at Circe's words even as his heart started to shatter. He had been stretching out his senses to the maximum to see if perhaps Selene had survived but felt nothing. A wave of despair and utter heartbreak filled him as it seemed as if Circe's words were true and his beloved wife was dead.

Slade steeled his heart and turned all his pain into rage. This woman had come and destroyed his home, killed his wife and by the way she was still babbling, was planning on killing his children for no other reason than because they were his. Slade was not going to give Circe the pleasure of a long drawn out battle.

"... and now, Sladian, it is time for you to d-" Circe's words were cut off by a gurgle of pain. Circe looked down to her chest and was surprised to see Líthi's blade sticking out of her chest, through her heart.

Slade glared at Circe with hate in his eyes as he glared at Circe. He disappeared and reappeared behind Circe before ripping out Líthi viciously. "My blade obeys my commands... Even if it is buried under ten feet of rubble and Greek fire."

Circe let out a gurgle and fell on the floor, bleeding out. Slade glared and viciously pushed Circe over so she was looking up before once again stabbing her with Líthi, this time through the stomach. Slade's face was a mask of rage and hate as he slowly pushed and pulled Líthi out of Circe's stomach, causing her to cry out in pain. "You killed my wife! Do you think I was going to show you mercy!? Rot in hell, you fucking whore!"

Circe let out a laugh even as she screamed in pain. "I-It doesn't matter if you killed me. Even in death, I've had my revenge."

Slade's eyes narrowed as he leaned closer to hear her even as he felt a terrible sense of foreboding. "What do you mean?"

Circe smirked evilly even as the light slowly started to leave her eyes. "That time you bedded me... you-urgh! - got me pregnant. I had my beautiful Igraine nine months later. She didn't wish to help me kill you but now? After you killed her mother? My line will finish what I started! My teachings have been passed on! As for you... How will you live with yourself? Knowing... that you made... your eldest daughter... an orphan?"

With that final cruel barb, Circe, the millennia old Greek witch finally died.

Slade was wide-eyed and pale at Circe's revelation. He took a step back and almost stumbled in shock. The idea that he, a man who had been abandoned by his own parents, robbed his own child of their mother filled him self-loathing. Worse still, was the knowledge that in death Circe had poisoned any chance Slade had of a relationship with his daughter.

That knowledge coupled with the knowledge that his beloved Selene was dead was too much for him and he broke down crying on the floor. The only thing he thought of was Agamotto's warning last night, that the ones he cared about would pay for his attempt of changing history.

Slade sobbed as he blamed himself for his selfishness. His desire to escape his destiny had led to his wife's death. In truth, he could have simply taken his wife to his time with him. However, he had wanted to escape his fate, tired from decades of fighting and killing. When Gawain and Lancelot came, they were just a convenient excuse for him to not go back to his own time. And now, his wife had paid the price for his cowardice.

He didn't know how long he lay on his knees, sobbing but he was eventually roused when someone laid a hand on his shoulder. Slade looked up and saw Merlin's wet eyes looking back at him, reflecting a similar pain to his own. Selene had been like a mother to Merlin and he had loved her like one. Her death affected him almost as strongly as it did Slade.

Slade saw his sons sobbing not far from him, having realized what happened to their beloved mother. Slade hardened his heart. He wouldn't let his sons pay for his selfishness. If he continued to stay in this time, they might suffer next and he couldn't allow that. There was only one way to protect them and let them grow up to adulthood safe and relatively happy.

Slade cleared his eyes and stood up with Merlin's help. Merlin looked at his master with sad eyes. "I'm sorry, Master. If I had been here..."

Slade put a hand on Merlin's shoulder to stop him from continuing. "You couldn't have known Merlin. Don't beat yourself up for something that was your fault. The one who did it..." Slade looked at Circe's corpse lying with Líthi still impaled in her stomach. "Is dead. Selene is avenged. Now... I have to make arrangements for my sons."

Merlin looked confused at his master's words. "What do you mean, master?"

Slade sighed, his heart still crying out in pain from Selene's death but he pressed forward. "I was warned that something might happen. You know I'm not from this time. Agamotto told me that I had to return or terrible things might happen due to it. Selene's death... was due to that. I can't stay here any longer or you three might suffer next. I have let you three follow your destinies... no matter what they are."

Merlin looked confused but nodded his head. "As you say, master. What will you do?"

Slade sighed and closed his eyes. "I recently found out that the Lady Igraine is in reality my daughter. That makes the Lady Morgause, my granddaughter. I plan to go to her and ask her to take in Gawain as her own child. She should say that Gawain is her and her husband's child. He will be safe and protected there."

Merlin looked thoughtful but nodded his head in agreement. "Yes. He is really her uncle but can masquerade as her son well enough. As your granddaughter, there is enough similarities between them for it to be accepted. What about Lancelot?"

Slade closed his eyes in pain. "I am going to give Lancelot to be raised by the Lady of the Lake." Slade raised his hand to stop Merlin's protests. "Trust me, Merlin. It has to be this way. While I don't doubt you can raise him, you will be too busy as Sorcerer Supreme as well as doing your other projects to be around 24/7. The Lady has always wanted a son and she will be a good influence on him."

Merlin looked conflicted but eventually sighed and nodded his head in agreement. "Very well. Will you do this now?"

Slade shook his head and walked over to Circe's corpse. He pulled out Líthi and summoned Mir from the rubble. The rubble shifted as Mir came out of the rubble, completely unharmed and landed in his hand. Slade put Líthi inside Mir and tied it to belt. That done, Slade conjured a large blanket and wrapped Circe's corpse in it, taking care to close Circe's eyes so it seemed as if she was sleeping and covering all her injuries as well as the burned part of her face.

Slade looked down at the corpse of the woman who revealed herself to be the mother of his first child and felt a mixture of emotions. He still hated her for killing Selene but at the same time... she had birthed his first child. She might have kept Igraine from him and tried to poison her against him but... in the end, she had raised and loved his child instead of simply abandoning her. It was a possibility since Circe hated Slade with a passion and could have passed on that hate to Igraine yet she didn't. For that reason if nothing else, Slade was grateful. Even if he didn't know Igraine and she might hate him for killing Circe... she was still his daughter.

Slade froze as he realized that Igraine was destined to be the mother of King Arthur as well as mother to Morgana le Fay. Slade closed his eyes as a sardonic smile came to his face. He was father and grandfather to some of the most famous Knights of the Round Table as well as their sworn enemy. What irony.

Slade picked up the wrapped up corpse of Circe and turned to Merlin with a serious look on his face. "I'm going to take Circe's body to her daughter. She... Igraine deserves that much. After all... I did kill her mother."

Merlin's face took on an understanding look. "Very well. I will watch over Gawain and Lancelot until you return."

Slade nodded and walked over to his children. "Gawain, Lancelot. Stay here with Merlin. I'm... going to do something. I'll be right back."

Gawain looked up at his father with teary eyes. "You promise? You promise you won't leave as well?"

Slade closed in eyes in pain at his son's heartbroken words. Soon he would have to leave both his sons forever. How could he do this so soon after losing their mother?

'Because I have to,' thought Slade sadly.

Slade steeled his heart and smiled down at his son. "I promise I'll be back soon. I just... have someone I need to talk to and it's long overdue."

Gawain and Lancelot looked confused at his words but were consoled by their father's promise. With a final farewell, Slade disappeared in a swirl of color.

* * *

><p><strong>Isle of Ruta, 5 minutes later<strong>

Slade appeared on the shores of the Isle of Ruta. He had originally appeared in Cornwall, thinking she would be there only to be told she was in Ruta attending the Samhain festival there. Slade had then appeared here and started to walk toward the temple in the distance.

As he walked through the streets, people stopped to stare at the wrapped bundle in his arms, since it was obviously a person by the shape. Rumors flew as he walked toward a magical signature that felt similar to his and Circe's, knowing who it was by that alone.

Slade stopped in front of a house that looked like all the others and took a deep breath before knocking. Soon after, the door was opened by a beautiful blond woman that looked like Circe did before she was burned except her eyes held kindness in them.

Igraine froze when she saw Slade and the wind passed in that moment, allowing the blanket Circe's corpse was wrapped in to move a little and reveal her face.

Igraine's face crumpled at the sight of her dead mother and she started to sob. Slade closed his eyes in pain and spoke. "May I come in?"

Igraine nodded even as she continued to cry and let Slade pass. Slade walked toward the dining room table and placed Circe's wrapped corpse on it, taking care to be gentle since he knew that despite his personal feelings... this was Igraine's mother and by her sobs, she had loved her dearly.

Slade stepped back as Igraine walked toward her mother's corpse and started to sob on her chest. Slade looked away, feeling guilty for being the cause of his unknown daughter's tears. If Slade had known about Igraine before had imagined their first meeting... it wouldn't be like this.

Igraine eventually stopped crying and sniffed a little before turning to Slade with carefully neutral eyes. "So... I guess you must be Sladian... my father?"

Slade looked at his daughter's eyes, so much like his own and nodded.

Igraine's face broke slightly and Slade saw the longing mixed in with anger hidden in their depths. Igraine eventually masked it and turned around before speaking once more. "I told her... I told her to let it go but she didn't listen. She was so fixated on revenge..." Igraine turned around to look at Slade with angry and accusing eyes. "Why did you kill her?! Certainly someone of your skill could have simply captured her?!"

Slade closed his eyes as he felt the blows from her words hit. Slade swallowed heavily before speaking. "I didn't... I didn't know about you. If I had known... no... Even if I had known it still would have ended this way. Circe killed her. She killed my wife, Selene."

Igraine froze at that and a glimmer of sympathy entered her eyes. "I guess... I can understand your anger then. God knows I would kill whoever killed my husband."

Slade tried not to grimace at the irony of that statement considering what he knew of the future. "I'm still sorry. I... didn't imagine our first meeting like this."

Igraine gave a sardonic smile. "Sadly... I knew it was going to be something like this. Mother... always hated you. There was no chance of us meeting in peace." Igraine looked at the corpse of her mother before turning back to Slade. "I know what you want and I don't hate you but... please leave. I may not hate you but... I loved my mother."

Slade felt his heart break a little more than it already had at her words. It was naïve of him to think he could have had some kind of peaceful talk with his daughter after killing her mother. Still, he had to try since he was never going to see her again.

Slade got up before stopping at the door. "What are you going to tell Morgana?"

Igraine had her back to him as she spoke. "For now, I'll tell her that her grandmother died. When she's older, if I think she's mature enough to understand, I'll tell her the truth."

Slade paused before opening his mouth to speak only for Igraine to cut him off. "I'm sorry but you can't see her. You have to understand... Morgana adored my mother. She's also very smart. If she finds out you're her grandfather and sees my mother dead... she'll put two and two together. She'll hate you and I don't want her to hate her own blood."

Slade couldn't help but internally grimace at the irony but said nothing. "Very well. I'm... not going to be reachable in the coming years. If you ever need anything, anything at all, contact my apprentice Merlin. He'll help you."

Igraine nodded, her back still to him and Slade walked out the door.

As soon as Slade left, Igraine looked in his direction with a half-longing, half-pained look before breaking down crying at all that her mother's hate had cost.

* * *

><p><strong>The next day, Orkney<strong>

Morgause slowly came back to the waking world with a yawn. She smiled and buried herself in the warmth of her husband's body. She had been married to Lot for 3 years now but still enjoyed the feeling of her husband's next to her own when she woke.

Unlike most marriages, they had married for love and Morgause couldn't be happier. Just yesterday, the physician had told her she was 2 months pregnant. She and Lot had been overjoyed though that was slightly overshadowed by the fact that Lot's father was still sick and didn't look like he was getting any better.

Despite that, Morgause and Lot celebrated the incoming birth of their first child well into the night and this led to them oversleeping the next day. Morgause wondered why the servants haven't woken them yet when they usually did.

Morgause froze when he heard somebody whispering in the room. The voice was unfamiliar but it was unmistakably male. This was what caused her to freeze since all their servants were female so the only male in the room should be her husband. Luckily, it seemed as if her husband had awoken and noticed as well since she felt him tense under her.

Morgause slowly moved her hand under the pillow to grasp the knife hidden there but froze when the person spoke.

"Please, I mean you no harm. I am sorry for my rudeness and for the impertinence of coming into your chambers unannounced but I needed to speak to you both and my coming could not be seen."

Morgause paused in thought before deciding that if the man had meant them harm, then he wouldn't be on the other side of the room and he wouldn't have spoken. Furthermore, she could hear the soft tenor of a boy near the man in question and decided that no assassin would bring a boy.

Lot seemed to have come to the same conclusion because he got off the bed and glared at the man in question. The man had black hair with silver streaks that was slightly wild in a deliberate way. He was broad-shouldered and she could tell her was no stranger to hard work yet still had an air of a scholar around him. He had a sheath holstered on his belt but no sword inside it.

Morgause gasped when she took in the man's eyes. They were the color of amber. More importantly, they were exactly like her mother's. In that moment, Morgause knew, without a shadow of a doubt, who was standing before them.

"Who are you and why did you barge into my chambers?" demanded Lot angrily. He had his sword in hand and was pointing it at the man threateningly but the man seemed unfazed.

"I'm sorry. My name is Sladian Invictus and this is my son Gawain. I have come to beg a boon from you." asked Sladian humbly. The boy, Gawain, seemed nervous and sad but showed no fear at Lot's threats, as if sure that his father could protect him even unarmed.

Lot sneered and was about to retort when Morgause interrupted. "My love... let him speak... please."

Lot looked at his wife in confusion while still watching Sladian from the corner of his eye. "Why, love? Do you know this man?"

Morgause nodded as she drank in the sight of her until-now unknown grandfather. "Yes and no. I think... that he's my grandfather."

That brought Lot up short and he was further perplexed when the man nodded.

Slade smiled slightly. "You are as smart as your mother. I am... sorry I didn't come at a better time but my time is short. For what it is worth... I was not part of your life due to no fault of mine. If I had known you and your mother existed... I would have moved heaven and earth to raise you."

Morgause face softened at his words and she put a hand on Lot's arm. Lot looked at her and sighed before putting his sword down before looking at Sladian in confusion. "You don't look a day over 30."

Slade smiled sadly. "One of the boons of magic, milord." Slade steeled himself for what he had to do now. "I wish... I could stay and talk to you more, granddaughter but as I said, my time is short. I ask that you take in my son, Gawain here and raise him as your own child."

Morgause and Lot looked at him with confusion evident on their faces. "Why, grandfather? Can't you raise him yourself? If it is someplace to stay I'm sure my husband can offer you a room here in Orkney." said Morgause in confusion.

Slade smiled sadly. "It is not that. I... don't have long for this world and... My wife... was killed yesterday. He has nowhere else to stay and I thought since you are technically his niece..."

"... I could raise him as my own." finished Morgause. She looked at Sladian in the eye, her own purple eyes studying his emerald before sadness and understanding entered them. "My grandmother killed her, didn't she?"

Sladian stiffened before nodding. Beside him, Gawain's eyes were red from tears, signaling the fact that he was recently crying. From the fact that his father had to leave or the fact that he lost his mother recently was unknown but Morgause suspected both.

Lot looked at the man before him in sympathy. He might seem to be unaffected but now that he knew what happened, Lot could see the unfathomable pain in the man's eyes. To lose both wife and son in a span of two days was shattering him. Lot couldn't imagine what he would do if the same happened to him. This helped him make his choice.

"We agree," said Lot firmly. "We'll go to one of my other estates for a few years and when we come back, we'll say he's ours. No one will say anything and simply accept it. He looks similar enough to both Morgause and I for the ruse to work."

Morgause looked from her husband to her estranged grandfather before settling on the boy. Morgause's heart broke when she saw the desolation in his eyes. To lose one's entire world within two days, Morgause couldn't imagine it. Her grandmother had a lot to answer for. While she loved her grandmother, Morgause always knew the kind of person she was. She had no doubt that she was dead since Sladian was still alive and personally, Morgause believed she had reaped what she'd sown.

Morgause nodded before walking toward Gawain. She was only wearing a nightgown to cover her modesty but she was technically surrounded by family so she didn't bother covering up. Sure enough, Sladian didn't even glance at her body, something that was rare since Morgause knew she was beautiful. This only further cemented the fact that he was her grandfather.

Morgause kneeled before Gawain with a smile. "I know that you're sad about what happened to your mother but I promise to take care of you now. We're family and we always protect one another."

Gawain nodded before jumping into her arms and hugging her. Morgause just smiled sadly and hugged him back as he cried into her shoulder.

Slade watched with a broken heart as he was forced to leave his son behind but was at least glad that he would be well looked after. "Gawain, come here."

Gawain left Morgause's embrace and walked over to his father who had kneeled so they looked eye to eye.

Slade smiled sadly before hugging him which he fiercely returned. When they broke the hug, Slade looked his son in the eye. "I love you, son. Never doubt that. Remember the family emblem and the five virtues of a knight: noble generosity, fellowship, purity, courtesy, and compassion. As long as you follow these virtues I will always be proud of you."

Gawain nodded through his tears as he sniffled. "When I become a knight, I'll put our emblem on my shield. To honor you, father."

Slade smiled sadly. "I'd like that, son."

The two embraced one last time before separating. Slade stepped back and smiled sadly at his son one last time before turning to Morgause and Lot. "If you ever have need of anything, call on my former apprentice Merlin. He is a good man if a little... eccentric. He will aid as he can."

With that parting comment, Slade disappeared in a swirl of color.

* * *

><p><strong>Slade's clearing, Northern Pictland<strong>

Merlin stiffened before relaxing as he felt his master arrive. Lancelot stood beside him awaiting his Slade's arrival as well, anxious to know how it went with Gawain's niece/new adoptive mother.

Slade appeared in a swirl of color before them, his face neutral though you could still see the pain in his eyes. He smiled bitterly at them before speaking. "Morgause agreed to take Gawain in. I'm sure he'll be happy there."

Lancelot looked relieved before a concerned look came to his face. "What about me, father?"

Slade smiled down at Lancelot. "You'll be coming with me to Avalon. The Lady of the Lake has agreed to raise you as her own. You'll return when you've grown. I'm... in no condition to travel through time so the Lady is going to help me. This is why we are in such a hurry. The portal to Avalon is only open today, on Samhain, so we have to hurry."

As he spoke, the lake glowed blue and two boats appeared: one that would lead Lancelot to Avalon and another for Slade to take him to his own time using the Lady's power. Realizing that the time had come, Slade turned to Merlin. "Merlin, I... didn't have time to properly search for Selene's body so if you find it... please bury it properly. Also... take in Morgana as your apprentice when the time comes. It's the least I can do for her after what I took from her."

Merlin nodded his head sadly. "I will do as you ask, master. I... will miss you... father."

Slade smiled sadly before bringing Merlin in for a hug. The two, master and apprentice, embraced firmly before separating. Slade smiled at his first apprentice before speaking. "Be happy, Merlin. And for the love of God, stop perving on the goddesses. One of these days they're gonna succeed in castrating you."

Merlin just gave him a perverted grin. "It'd be worth it if I managed to see the Lady of the Lake naked before I died."

Slade groaned but just shook his head in exasperation. "Whatever."

Slade walked to the boats with Lancelot before stopping with Lancelot alongside his boat. Slade knew it was the one for Lancelot since it had his name etched along the side.

Slade placed his hands on his adoptive son's shoulders before speaking. "Be happy, Lancelot. I know you will make a great knight and I'm proud of you. Never forget the virtues of the perfect knight and always follow your heart."

Lancelot wiped the tears from his eyes before hugging the only father he had ever known. Separating, Lancelot stepped into his boat and it started to take him along the Lake surface toward an unnatural mist that appeared in the middle of the lake.

Slade looked into the Lake's surface and saw the Lady of the Lake looking back at him. "Thank you, milady, for agreeing to watch over him. Have you done as I asked?"

The Lady of the Lake nodded and she pushed Líthi out of the water and into Slade's hands. "Arthur's sword, Excalibur, will be forged in Líthi's likeness. The fairies and I think it will be our greatest work yet. Without your sword as an example we would have never have been capable of it. As you requested, two sister sword will be made as well and they will give to Lancelot and Gawain when they come of age. Your shield will also be enchanted and given to Arthur when the time comes."

Slade nodded and said nothing as he stepped into the boat. He laid down on the boat similar to how they would arrange a corpse and a morbid part of him thought it was fitting considering how he felt.

The entire time since he found out about Selene's death he had barely kept himself together. He had been with her for over 40 years and the pain of her loss cut deeper than any blade could hope to match. There was an aching hollowness in his heart where Selene once resided and he knew that no one would ever fill it again.

The Lady whispered in his ear as the boat moved toward the mists that would take him to his time. "Sleep, young one. Sleep heals most wounds. While it will not heal this one, sleep and dream until you reach your time."

Slade felt the Lady's magic affect him and he let it happen. He slowly fell asleep as the boat entered the mists. As he slept, his body seemed to become younger. The little gray hairs he had disappeared although his silver stripes remained. He became less broad and slightly skinnier as well as his skin becoming more youthful.

By the time the boat entered the currents of time, Slade was once again 16 years old. One year off the exact age he should be once he returned home.

Back in the clearing, Merlin watched his master's boat disappear into mist and muttered into the wind. "And so the greatest man to ever grace the land goes to sleep amongst the mist... to return someday in the future."

With a pop of displaced air, Merlin disappeared.

But fate it seems had another plan for Slade, for when he woke up, he found himself not on Earth, but in a different dimension that would one day be called the Negative Zone.

'Why does this shit always happen to me?' Slade mused, as strange insect-like creatures appeared flying towards him and he could they were not friendly.

'Great, a welcoming committee.' He thought as he griped Líthi. 'Well then, let's greet the new neighbors, shall we Líthi?' As charged toward the hostile force.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: There it is. The last of the Past Catastrophes Arc. Now it may take some time as this is where Angeldoctor left off, so it may be a while before the next update. The poll is still up and will end on October 2****nd****, so keep voting and look to chapter 13 for a description of the choices. **

**While you are waiting check out my other stories.**

**As always Read & Review.**


	16. New Poll

**Here is my new poll **

**According to one of my reviewers, apparently there are age issues with Magik ****so I may have to replace her. Also I am unsure about ****Mockingbird so I may replace her instead or even both.**

**So here is a list of possible candidates**

**Satana Hellstrom**

**Susan Storm/Invisible Woman**

**Greer Nelson/Tigra**

**Thundra**

**Aldrif Odinsdottir****/Angela**

**Lilith Drake **

**Please vote ****for one or two and no PMing me your vote unless it is important****. Results will be posted on October 13th. As Always Read & Review.**


	17. Poll Results New Poll

**The poll is over. The results are**

**5th place Thundra with 1 vote**

**4th place ****Greer Grant/Tigra & ****Lilith Drake tied with 6 votes**

**3rd place Satana Hellstrom with 2 votes**

**2nd place Angela with 9 votes**

**And in 1st place Susan Storm/Invisible Woman with 17 votes**

**So the people spoken, ****Susan Storm and ****Angela will be replacing Magik and Mockingbird****. Please note that these are temporary chapters and will be taken down after I have finished Chapter 15. There is a new poll for Son of Akavir that will be up in a few days. It is about replacing the Avatar universe in the crossover with Highschool DxD instead. As always read & review.**


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